Responses to sound in three Centrarchid species: Do heterospecific interactions change behavior?

Due to the increasing prevalence and variety of underwater anthropogenic noise sources, and the growing human population, anthropogenic noise has the potential to negatively impact aquatic organisms. With this growing threat, the question of how fishes respond to this stressor in their natural environments becomes more urgent. The current study used behavioral trials with bluegill sunfish Lepomis macrochirus, pumpkinseed sunfish Lepomis gibbosus, and rock bass Ambloplites rupestris, both in isolation and in a heterospecific trial, to determine how behaviors indicative of stress were influenced by interspecific interactions when exposed to recordings of pure tones and boat motors.

A comparative analysis of form and function in Centrarchidae hearing ability: Does otolith variation affect auditory responsiveness?

There exists a wealth of knowledge on hearing ability in individual fish species, but the role of interspecific variation, and drivers behind it, remains understudied, making it difficult to understand evolutionary drivers. The current study quantified hearing thresholds for three species of sunfish in the family Centrarchidae [bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus), pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus), and rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris)] using auditory evoked potentials and behavioral trials and saccular otolith size and hair cell density. In auditory physiological experiments, 10-ms tone bursts were played and responses monitored to measure hearing.