Animals

Eavesdropping on fish could help us keep better tabs on underwater worlds

The meaning of most fish sounds remains unknown

a quillback rockfish

So far, scientists have cataloged more than 1,000 species of sound-producing fish, including the quillback rockfish.

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By McKenzie Prillaman

Ashlee Lillis’ interview subjects don’t talk. But they have plenty to say through grunts, growls, clicks and other odd noises.

“I put my hydrophone — which is our underwater microphone — on the end of a long pole and keep sticking it into fish faces,” says Lillis, a marine ecologist who leads Sound Ocean Science, an organization based in Gqeberha, South Africa, focused on international marine research and conservation.