Data from: Lost at sea: ocean acidification undermines larval fish orientation via altered hearing and marine soundscape modification

The dispersal of larvae and their settlement to suitable habitat is
fundamental to the replenishment of marine populations and the communities
in which they live. Sound plays an important role in this process because
for larvae of various species, it acts as an orientational cue towards
suitable settlement habitat. Because marine sounds are largely of
biological origin, they not only carry information about the location of
potential habitat, but also information about the quality of habitat.
While ocean acidification is known to affect a wide range of marine
organisms and processes, its effect on marine soundscapes and its
reception by navigating oceanic larvae remains unknown. Here, we show that
ocean acidification causes a switch in role of present-day soundscapes
from attractor to repellent in the auditory preferences in a temperate
larval fish. Using natural CO2 vents as analogues of future ocean
conditions, we further reveal that ocean acidification can impact marine
soundscapes by profoundly diminishing their biological sound production.
An altered soundscape poorer in biological cues indirectly penalizes
oceanic larvae at settlement stage because both control and CO2-treated
fish larvae showed lack of any response to such future soundscapes. These
indirect and direct effects of ocean acidification put at risk the complex
processes of larval dispersal and settlement.