Date of Award

1-1-2022

Publication Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.Sc.

Department

Biological Sciences

First Advisor

C. Semeniuk

Second Advisor

O. Love

Third Advisor

D. Higgs

Keywords

Fish, Sensory systems, Behavioral responses, Physiological extremes

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

Fishes are surrounded by various types of stimuli in their habitats which provide important information about their environments. Here, I investigated how various types of stimuli can affect the behaviour and physiology of two freshwater species: the invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) and the black bullhead (Ameiurus melas). In chapter 2, I tested for a synergistic response in the round goby to multimodal stimuli, by presenting acoustic, visual, and olfactory stimuli separately and simultaneously. The results showed a significant decrease in the average respiration rate during multimodal stimuli suggesting that a synergistic response to multimodal stimuli occurred. The development of multimodal traps may be useful to control round goby populations in non-native habitats since multimodal signalling may be more attractive than unimodal signalling. Chapter 3 exposed black bullhead (Ameiurus melas) to various sound intensities (160, 165, 170 and 175 dB re 1 µPa) of boat noise to investigate regeneration of ciliary bundles following noise exposure. Black Bullhead exposed to 170 and 175 dB re 1 µPa of noise had a decrease in ciliary bundle counts but regenerated within 48 hours (Experiment 1) and 72 hours (Experiment 2). Ciliary bundle counts never reached control levels following exposure of 175 dB re 1 µPa of boat noise. Anthropogenic noise can cause immediate damage to auditory epithelium, but fish can quickly recover, giving hope to mitigation efforts for development of a quiet refuge.

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