Fish sounds of photic and mesophotic coral reefs: variation with depth and type of island

• DOI: 10.1007/s00338-022-02343-7
• Publication Date: 2023-01-03T07:03:45Z
• Authors: Xavier Raick; Lucia Di Iorio; David Lecchini; Cédric Gervaise; Laetitia Hédouin; ; G. Bardout; J. Fauchet; A. Ferucci; F. Gazzola; G. Lagarrigue; J. Leblond; E. Marivint; A. Mittau; N. Mollon; N. Paulme; E. Périé-Bardout; R. Pete; S. Pujolle; G. Siu; Gonzalo Pérez-Ros...; Héloïse Rouzé; Frédéric Bertucci; Éric Parmentier
• Keywords: [SDE] Environmental Sciences; 0106 biological sciences; Passive acoustic monitoring; 01 natural sciences; [SDE.BE] Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Biophony; [SDV.EE] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment; [SHS.ENVIR] Humanities and Social Sciences/Environmental studies; Soundscape; Mesophotic coral ecosystems; [SDV.EE.ECO] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Ecosystems; French polynesia; [SDE.IE] Environmental Sciences/Environmental Engineering; [SHS] Humanities and Social Sciences; [SDV.BID] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity

Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems remain largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to determine how the acoustic fish biodiversity varied depending on the depth and the type of island in six Polynesian islands. The link between benthic cover and fish sound diversity was established. In most islands, acoustic fish α-diversity decreased between 20 and 60 m but not between 60 and 120 m. Fish sound types community composition was more driven by depth, likely due to benthic coral cover differences, than by the type of island. These results show fish sounds exhibit a bathymetric stratification and can reflect different habitat features. It opens perspectives in the monitoring of mesophotic coral ecosystems using passive acoustics.