Hailey L. Davies

Rockfishes have closed swim bladders that prevent rapid gas expulsion, making them susceptible to barotrauma when captured. Although descending devices are now required for releasing non-retainable rockfishes in British Columbia and some United States jurisdictions, long-term post-release survival varies by species and remains understudied. We conducted a mark-recapture study around a small island in the Strait of Georgia in 2020–2021. Using field data from 352 tagged rockfishes across nine species, we quantified external barotrauma symptoms and identified species-specific and depth-related patterns. We documented some cases of immediate external barotrauma reversal (tight abdomen and pop-eye), limited behavioural impairment upon release, and no depredation. Two recaptured individuals (0.6%; 2/352) confirmed post-release survival (28–132 days). The low recapture rate may reflect migration from the study area among other potential factors. While SeaQualizers effectively returned rockfishes to depth in many cases and represents an improvement over surface release, we documented notable challenges with fish resurfacing and inaccurate release depths. These findings warrant communication to anglers and managers.

Motivation: Fish sounds are integral to a variety of ecological functions, including reproduction, predator–prey interactions and recruitment, with ever‐growing interest in their relationships to anthropogenic impacts and applications for passive acoustic monitoring. Until recently, however, fish sound production data were often not easily accessible, limiting research, management and public awareness. FishSounds.net launched in 2021 to compile and disseminate global fish sound production information and recordings. Here, we describe the subsequent FishSounds version releases 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 3.0 and 3.1 (cumulatively referred to as Versions 2 and 3). We updated the core dataset to include any fish species studied for sound production up until the year 2023. We added over 1000 new fish sound recordings, collated from FishSounds contributors or Cornell University's Macaulay Library. Connections with FishBase and the World Register of Marine Species were strengthened to improve the species information provided on FishSounds and facilitate data sharing. We also created several interactive visualisation tools, including a dendrogram and map view, to allow users to explore trends in known fish sound production. These updates have made FishSounds now the largest catalogue of fish sound production knowledge, utilised by over 17,000 users annually and featuring 1252 fish species studied across 1013 references as well as 1304 recordings. Main Types of Variables Contained: Fish sound production information compiled from the scientific literature, representative fish sound recordings with associated metadata and supporting images and species data drawn from other repositories. Spatial Location and Grain: Global. Time Period and Grain: 1874–2023. Major Taxa and Level of Measurement: Fishes (Agnatha, Chondrichthyes, Sarcopterygii, Actinopterygii). All sound production information and most recordings have species‐level identification, with any others identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level. Software Format: The complete database is presented on FishSounds.net , with versioned image, audio, tabular and text files in a Borealis data repository.

The diversity of biotic and abiotic sounds that fill underwater ecosystems has become polluted by anthropogenic noise in recent decades. Yet, there is still great uncertainty surrounding how different acoustic stimuli influence marine and freshwater (i.e., aquatic) communities. Despite capabilities to detect and produce sounds, aquatic invertebrates are among the most understudied taxa within the field of soundscape ecology. We conducted a meta‐analysis to understand how sounds from various sources influence the behavior and physiology of aquatic invertebrates. We extracted 835 data points from 46 studies conducted in 15 countries. The resulting data included 50 species, a range of experimental conditions, and four sound categories: anthropogenic, environmental, synthetic, and music. We used meta‐analytic multivariate mixed‐effect models to determine how each sound category influenced aquatic invertebrates and if responses were homogeneous across taxa. Our analyses illustrate that anthropogenic noise and synthetic sounds have detrimental impacts on aquatic invertebrate behavior and physiology, and that environmental sounds have slightly beneficial effects on their behavior. Defence responses were the most impacted behaviors, while the most prominent physiological responses were related to biochemistry, genetics, and morphology. Additionally, arthropods and molluscs exhibited the most pronounced physiological responses to anthropogenic and synthetic noise. These findings support the conclusion that many invertebrate species are sensitive to changes in aquatic soundscapes, which can cause adverse or favorable consequences to individuals and populations, dependent on the sound source. This quantitative synthesis highlights the necessity of including marine and freshwater invertebrates in acoustic exposure studies, aquatic ecosystem assessments, and emerging noise pollution policies.

FishSounds is an online portal that provides open and user-friendly access to academic scholarship regarding the sounds made by fish species. It is the result of an international collaboration between students, scientists, and information professionals, and has become a resource used around the globe for research, education, journalism, and general interest. This website is just the first instance of a new approach to sharing knowledge and an emerging cyberinfrastructure for open scholarship. The codebase behind FishSounds was designed to be reusable with other datasets, and in the coming years additional portals will connect users to knowledge from varied subject areas across academic disciplines. This discussion examines the development and reception of FishSounds as a case study for the creation of these websites, called Searchable Online Catalogues of Knowledge, or SOCKs. As it is publicly released, the SOCK platform will continue to evolve and develop new strategies based on the lessons learned from different audiences accessing FishSounds.

The cultivation of seafood now outpaces extraction from wild populations. This novel state in the history of human-marine ecosystem interactions highlights the importance of identifying cultivation practices that balance production and conservation. Here, we test the hypothesis that two shellfish cultivation practices, one that spans decades and the other millennia, bolsters habitat complexity, which increases epifaunal (surface) invertebrate diversity. To do so, we conducted multiple surveys of 24 First Nations clam gardens, shellfish aquaculture farms, and non-walled or unmodified beaches along the west coast of Canada. We show that habitat alterations specific to each cultivation practice restructure epifaunal communities at several ecological and spatial scales. Distinct communities within clam gardens and shellfish farms are a function of habitat complexity at 25–50 and 50–100 cm resolutions and changes in the amount of gravel, bivalve shells, and seaweeds. Our findings highlight how resource cultivation can contribute to achieving sustainable human-ecosystem interactions.

A working group from the Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds effort collaborated with the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) to create an inventory of species confirmed or expected to produce sound underwater. We used several existing inventories and additional literature searches to compile a dataset categorizing scientific knowledge of sonifery for 33,462 species and subspecies across marine mammals, other tetrapods, fishes, and invertebrates. We found 729 species documented as producing active and/or passive sounds under natural conditions, with another 21,911 species deemed likely to produce sounds based on evaluated taxonomic relationships. The dataset is available on both figshare and WoRMS where it can be regularly updated as new information becomes available. The data can also be integrated with other databases (e.g., SeaLifeBase, Global Biodiversity Information Facility) to advance future research on the distribution, evolution, ecology, management, and conservation of underwater soniferous species worldwide.