Corals rely on rich soundscapes to thrive, researchers have discovered.
In this undated file photo, a vibrantly colored coral reef is shown in the British Virgin Islands.Researchers have discovered a new method that could encourage the restoration of degraded coral reef populations, which have been declining around the world due to record-high marine temperatures.
Fish make sounds by strumming on their swim bladder and crunching and scraping on corals, Aoki said. Other sounds of the reef could include the crackling of snapping shrimp, according to the researchers. In their first days of life, coral larvae make a permanent decision of where they will settle and metamorphose into adults -- swimming or drifting with the currents in an effort to seek the right conditions to settle. The sounds of the reef are important settlement cues, the paper found.
The larvae were placed on the reefs' little cups in order to create a controlled environment at distances of one, five, 10 and 30 meters from the solar-powered speakers, which played the sounds of a healthy reef recorded about 10 years earlier, according to the paper.After collecting the cups, the researchers found that the larvae that were placed near underwater speakers settled at a rate of about twice as much, Aoki said.
The oval-shaped larvae, about the size of a grain of rice, are covered in ciliary hairs, leading the scientists to believe they are sensing the sound waves through the epidermis, Aoki said, adding that the exact mechanism in which the corals are potentially hearing by is not yet known.
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