Meeting Abstract
The silver and bighead carp are invasive fish species that have spread throughout the Mississippi River drainage and are threatening the Laurentian Great Lakes. These filter feeding fishes have negatively impacted aquatic ecosystems, and with few natural predators, are often the dominant species in infected areas. The silver carp has a unique jumping strategy when startled which has been well documented in popular videos, however the factors that initiate the jumping remain poorly understood. Laboratory and field studies were conducted on the silver carp in an attempt to isolate the factors mediating this behavior and perhaps find the fish’s Achilles fin. As the startle response often is triggered by passing watercraft, underwater audio of motorboats were recorded and played back to the fish. These broadband sounds proved more effective than pure tones in repelling the fish. Sound playbacks also significantly reduced the number of crossing attempts by the fish through a small channel in a barrier. Therefore, bioacoustics shows promise as a means of managing these invasive fish species.
