I've hit 'rock bottom.' I really don't like calling Anemonefish "clownfish." Totally wrong. However, it probably caught your attention -- clowns do that. 
Does your Anemonefish talk?
Researchers have figured out how Anemonefish make the "pop-pop-pop" noises at each other. It seems that the secret turns out to be an unusual tooth-clacking mechanism that scientists had never before documented.
Many marine fishes and animals make noises. This is not news. However most of the noises are made by scraping bones together, or vibrating air-filled swim bladders. But these mechanisms can't make the frequencies that Anemonefishes were able to 'hit.'
Studies on Amphiprion clarkii were done. They make a 'chirp' or 'pop' kind of sound during courtship or daily life around the reef, or when an intruder looms nearby. Thinking 'bones' (see above) high speed cameras, some with X-Ray ability, were setup to record the fish making these sounds. The cameras recorded the fish's bone movement up to 500 frames per second, but what they found was not a bone-made sound.
This Anemonefish male, upon spying an intruder, opens his jaws and then lifts his head, causing unusual ligaments to snap the jaws shut. The popping sound actually comes from the front teeth smacking together. The mechanism was proven by the researchers cutting the ligament. Without the ligament, the fish could make no noise.
Have you heard your Anemonefish make noises?
Does your Anemonefish talk?
Researchers have figured out how Anemonefish make the "pop-pop-pop" noises at each other. It seems that the secret turns out to be an unusual tooth-clacking mechanism that scientists had never before documented.
Many marine fishes and animals make noises. This is not news. However most of the noises are made by scraping bones together, or vibrating air-filled swim bladders. But these mechanisms can't make the frequencies that Anemonefishes were able to 'hit.'
Studies on Amphiprion clarkii were done. They make a 'chirp' or 'pop' kind of sound during courtship or daily life around the reef, or when an intruder looms nearby. Thinking 'bones' (see above) high speed cameras, some with X-Ray ability, were setup to record the fish making these sounds. The cameras recorded the fish's bone movement up to 500 frames per second, but what they found was not a bone-made sound.
This Anemonefish male, upon spying an intruder, opens his jaws and then lifts his head, causing unusual ligaments to snap the jaws shut. The popping sound actually comes from the front teeth smacking together. The mechanism was proven by the researchers cutting the ligament. Without the ligament, the fish could make no noise.
Have you heard your Anemonefish make noises?
