Fish 'farts' a form of communication?
Written by CBC News Online staff
November 5, 2003
VANCOUVER - Herring make farting sounds at night, Canadian and British scientists say.
Scientists knew herring have an excellent sense of hearing, but now researcher Ben Wilson of the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre in Vancouver and his British colleagues investigated their secret noises.
At night, herring squeeze bubbles out of their swim bladders through an anal pore.
The action produces distinctive sounds, resembling a person blowing raspberries or farting.
Wilson is now trying to figure out why.
The fish tend to make noise more often when in the company of others, which suggests it plays a social role, the researchers say.
If so, sound may be more important in herring than scientists had thought, and they may need to look into the effects of noise pollution from humans.
The fish may also produce the sounds to ward off predators. Or it could be an incidental effect of staying buoyant, Wilson said.
The commercially valuable fish live in the temperate waters of the northern hemisphere.
The study appears in this week's online issue of the Royal Society's Biology Letters.
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/11/05/herring_fart031104
