Biological Sound vs. Anthropogenic Noise: Assessment of Behavioural Changes in <i>Scyliorhinus canicula</i> Exposed to Boats Noise
Giovanni de Vincenzi,
Primo Micarelli,
Salvatore Viola,
Gaspare Buffa,
Virginia Sciacca,
Vincenzo Maccarrone,
Valentina Corrias,
Francesca Romana Reinero,
Cristina Giacoma,
Francesco Filiciotto
Affiliations
Giovanni de Vincenzi
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche—Istituto per le Risorse Biologiche e le Biotecnologie Marine, Messina (IRBIM-CNR)—Spianata S. Raineri, 86, 98122 Messina (ME), Italy
Primo Micarelli
Centro Studi Squali—Istituto Scientifico presso Aquarium Mondo Marino—Loc. Valpiana, 58024 Massa Marittima (GR), Italy
Salvatore Viola
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)—Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, 95100 Catania (CT), Italy
Gaspare Buffa
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche—Istituto per lo studio degli impatti Antropici e Sostenibilità in ambiente marino, Capo Granitola (IAS-CNR)—Via del Mare, 3, 91021 T.G. Campobello di Mazara (TP), Italy
Virginia Sciacca
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche—Istituto per le Risorse Biologiche e le Biotecnologie Marine, Messina (IRBIM-CNR)—Spianata S. Raineri, 86, 98122 Messina (ME), Italy
Vincenzo Maccarrone
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche—Istituto per lo studio degli impatti Antropici e Sostenibilità in ambiente marino, Capo Granitola (IAS-CNR)—Via del Mare, 3, 91021 T.G. Campobello di Mazara (TP), Italy
Valentina Corrias
Dipartimento di Scienze Marine, Ecologia e Biologia—Università degli Studi della Tuscia—Largo delle Università, 01100 Viterbo (VT), Italy
Francesca Romana Reinero
Dipartimento di Ecologia—Università della Calabria—Via Pietro Bucci, 87036 Rende (CS), Italy
Cristina Giacoma
Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10123 Torino (TO), Italy
Francesco Filiciotto
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche—Istituto per le Risorse Biologiche e le Biotecnologie Marine, Messina (IRBIM-CNR)—Spianata S. Raineri, 86, 98122 Messina (ME), Italy
Despite the growing interest in human-made noise effects on marine wildlife, few studies have investigated the potential role of underwater noise on elasmobranch species. In this study, twelve specimens of small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) were exposed to biological and anthropogenic sounds in order to assess their behavioural changes in response to prey acoustic stimuli and to different amplitude levels of shipping noise. The sharks, individually held in aquariums, were exposed to four experimental acoustic conditions characterized by different spectral (Hz) components and amplitude (dB re 1 µPa) levels. The swimming behaviour and spatial distribution of sharks were observed. The results highlighted significant differences in swimming time and in the spatial use of the aquarium among the experimental conditions. When the amplitude levels of biological sources were higher than those of anthropogenic sources, the sharks’ swimming behaviour was concentrated in the bottom sections of the aquarium; when the amplitude levels of anthropogenic sources were higher than biological ones, the specimens increased the time spent swimming. Moreover, their spatial distribution highlighted a tendency to occupy the least noisy sections of the aquarium. In conclusion, this study highlighted that anthropogenic noise is able to affect behaviour of catshark specimens and the impact depends on acoustic amplitude levels.
