It's not Mozart or Elvis that does so, but a cacophony of noises, resembling those that emanate from a reef, that makes the embryo of a clown fish heart's throb for a home. After birth, the ant-sized juveniles swim away, but eventually they return to a reef to live.
In trying to determine how these flashy reef fish do so, marine biologist Stephen Simpson, University of York, investigated sound as a possible cue. He and colleague Hong Yang, University of Kentucky, played noises of different frequencies and volumes to fish embryo in a soundproof chamber, and observed them under the microscope. When the sounds were "just right," meaning they matched the pops, bangs, whoops, and crackles emanating from a coral reef, the embryos' heart rate increased.
The researchers confirmed the possibility of acoustical memory on Australia's Lizard Island by creating silent and noisy artificial reefs. Six times more fish made ...
