Meeting Abstract
Soundscapes, the mixture of sounds that form the ambient acoustic environment, are increasingly recognized as a key influence on marine ecological pattern and process. Snapping shrimp (Alpheidae) are a diverse family of cryptic sound-producing crustaceans whose snaps dominate shallow-water marine soundscapes worldwide. Despite their outsized bio-acoustic contribution and probable influence on sound-mediated ecological processes, relatively little is known about snapping shrimp sound production patterns or the underlying behavioral ecology. Our recent efforts to sample habitat soundscapes at high spatiotemporal resolution have revealed complex dynamics in snapping shrimp sound production and suggest that snapping behaviors are not as simplistic as has been previously assumed. Snap rates generally exhibit diurnal and crepuscular rhythms, but these rhythms can vary over short spatial scales (e.g., opposite diurnal patterns between nearby reefs) and shift substantially over time (e.g., daytime versus nighttime dominance during different seasons). Snap rate variability relates to abiotic variables such as temperature, light, and DO, and biotic factors such as sex, size, and behavioral context. Our lab experiments using Alpheus heterochaelis indicate that snapping behavior likely serves multiple communicative functions and has high inter-individual variability. The nature of these relationships, underlying causal mechanisms, and impact on natural soundscapes under changing environmental conditions are beginning to be explored.
