Data set for the paper: Fish responses to underwater sounds depend on auditory adaptations

We compiled data on fish hearing acuity (Fish.hearing.compilation.csv) and adaptations and provided a portrait of how anthropogenic noise compares to natural sounds in different freshwater soundscapes (Underwater.soundscape.csv). We then conducted a sound-enrichment experiment to evaluate the effect of motorboat noise exposure on fish community structure, and the extent to which changes in species abundances were linked to auditory adaptations (see Sound.enrichment.experiment.fish catches and soundscape.csv for fish species caught in the experiment and the soundscape of the sound-enrichment treatment). We found that species with more specialized auditory structures (see Hearing adaptation.species.csv for hearing adaptations of species caught in the experiment) have more sensitive hearing (lower threshold and increased best frequency) and were captured less often in sound-enriched traps, indicating avoidance behavior. Our findings highlight the importance of considering species’ sensorial adaptations when evaluating the community-scale effects of noise pollution on the fish community.