Data from: Impacts of regular and random noise on the behaviour, growth and development of larval Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)

Anthropogenic noise impacts behaviour and physiology in many species, but responses could change with repeat exposures. As repeat exposures can vary in regularity, identifying regimes with less impact is important for regulation. We use a 16-day split-brood experiment to compare effects of regular and random acoustic noise (playbacks of recordings of ships), relative to ambient-noise controls, on behaviour, growth and development of larval Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Short-term noise caused startle responses in newly hatched fish, irrespective of rearing noise. Two days of both regular and random noise regimes reduced growth, while regular noise led to faster yolk sac use. After 16 days, growth in all three sound treatments converged, although fish exposed to regular noise had lower body width–length ratios. Larvae with lower body width–length ratios were easier to catch in a predator-avoidance experiment. Our results demonstrate that the timing of acoustic disturbances can impact survival-related measures during development. Much current work focuses on sound levels, but future studies should consider the role of noise regularity and its importance for noise management and mitigation measures.

人为噪声可对众多物种的行为与生理机能产生影响，但其响应程度可能随重复暴露发生动态变化。鉴于重复噪声暴露的规律性存在差异，识别低影响的噪声暴露模式对噪声监管而言意义重大。本研究采用为期16天的分窝实验（split-brood experiment），以环境噪声对照组为参照，对比规则与随机声学噪声（船舶录音回放）对大西洋鳕鱼（Gadus morhua）幼体的行为、生长及发育的调控效应。短期噪声暴露会诱导刚孵化的幼鱼产生惊跳反应，且该效应不受饲养环境噪声的影响。持续2天的规则与随机噪声暴露均会抑制幼鱼生长，而规则噪声暴露会加速幼鱼的卵黄囊消耗。16天实验结束后，三种声学处理组的幼鱼生长水平趋于一致，但暴露于规则噪声的幼鱼体宽体长比显著更低。在后续的避敌实验中，体宽体长比较低的幼鱼更易被捕食者捕获。本研究结果证实，声学扰动的时间节律会影响鱼类发育阶段的生存相关指标。当前多数相关研究聚焦于噪声声强水平，而未来的研究应关注噪声规律性的作用，及其在噪声管理与减缓措施中的重要价值。