Scientific Correspondence
Nature 389, 341 (25 September 1997) | doi:10.1038/38636
A clupeid fish can detect ultrasound
David A. Mann1, Zhongmin Lu1 & Arthur N. Popper1
It has been suggested that most teleost fishes cannot detect sounds higher than 2 or 3 kHz (ref. 1). However, we report here that at least one species of clupeid fish (herrings and shads), the American shad (Alosa sapidissima), can detect sounds up to 180 kHz. We speculate that clupeids are able to detect the ultrasonic clicks of one of their major predators, echolocating cetaceans2.
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Department of Zoology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742-4415, USA
e-mail: Email: Popper@zool.umd.edu
