A new study has discovered the ability of tiny fish to make massive sounds.
Danionella cerebrum is 10 to 12 millimeters, or about 0.4 to 0.5 inches, long and lives in shallow, dark waters in Myanmar, according to a statement from the Senckenberg Natural History Museum.
Ralf Britz, an ichthyologist at the museum, and an international research team recently examined the species in a study published February 26 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They found that the fish can produce noise levels of more than 140 decibels, which is unusual for an animal of its size.
The fish, “one of the smallest vertebrates,” produces sound at 140 decibels as far as its body size, the researchers said.
Fish are generally considered to be quiet animals, Britz said in the release. But the volume was comparable to what a person would hear about 330 feet away from the plane’s takeoff, the museum said.
It’s louder than a flightless mating call of a kakapo, which reaches 130 decibels, and an elephant, which reaches 125 decibels with their trunks, according to museum officials.
Males of the species have a unique sound-producing structure, the researchers found. It includes a tympanic cartilage, a special rib and a muscle that resists fatigue.
The mechanism shoots cartilage in the swim bladder — an organ that allows fish to maintain their depth “without floating up or sinking,” according to Britannica — and creates a “quick, powerful pulse,” says of learning.
“These pulses are combined to produce calls with either bilaterally alternating or unilateral muscle contractions,” the study said.
Researchers say the fish use the mechanism to communicate with other members of the species.
The results of the study challenge the idea that the speed of skeletal movement in vertebrates is limited by muscle movement, the museum said.
The fish are used as models for biomedical research, according to museum officials.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the Senckenberg Natural History Museum.
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