Brief into to the Hearing Systems of Fish

You can determine a lot about a fish’s hearing from their environment.  Fish in turbid, dark environments can have very developed hearing systems.  Fish that are more sedentary and rely on disguise may have only rudimentary hearing systems because they don’t need to hear. (Instead their sense of vibration might be highly sensitive).  Some fish see at night through sound by using background noise as “acoustical daylight” to sense objects.

There is no lack of noise in the ocean. We want to make sure our noise doesn’t compromise the hearing habitats of these animals.

Fish-Ears-2

Main Points:
There are a number of different hearing mechanisms in fish biology. Their environment determines how essential hearing is to their lives.
Terms:
Hearing specialists
Hearing generalists
Pressure gradient acoustical energy
Particle motion acoustical energy
Examples:
Carp
Halibut
Flounder