Data from: Going the distance: Influence of distance between boat noise and nest site on the behavior of paternal smallmouth bass

The effects of anthropogenic noise have garnered significant attention in
marine ecosystems, but comparatively less is known about its impacts on
freshwater ecosystems. For fish that provide parental care, the effects of
acoustic disturbance could have fitness-level consequences if nest tending
behavior is altered. This study explored the effects of motorboat noise on
the parental behavior of nesting male smallmouth bass (Micropterus
dolomieu; Lacépède, 1802), an important freshwater game fish in North
America that provides sole paternal care to offspring. Specifically, we
evaluated how boat noise proximity to a bass nest (ranging from 4.5 to 90
m) influenced paternal care behaviors. A total of 73 fish were exposed to
a 3-min motorboat playback designed to simulate a boat sound that
typically occurs in areas near littoral nesting sites. The fish were video
recorded, and their behaviors were analyzed before, during, and after
exposure to the playback. Residency time was the only behavioral metric to
be adversely affected by noise playbacks but only when in close proximity
to the speaker. Our results suggest that boat noise may have an impact on
bass reproductive fitness in specific contexts where combustion motors are
used near shore during the nesting period. The largely null findings may
indicate a resilience to boat noise and/or habituation to the noise. In
addition, boats displace water and create waves that represent another
form of disturbance that could be experienced by fish but was not
simulated here. Future research should integrate behavioral and
physiological responses to boat noise and other aspects of boat
disturbance to better understand the fitness impacts of boating activity
on freshwater fish.