Neuroethology of acoustic communication in aquatic vertebrates

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The long-term goal of my research program is to understand sensory adaptation and communication in natural habitats. I am particularly interested in signalling in the aquatic environment due to difficulties inherent in signal propagation and reception underwater and because of the vast array of available species and habitats. My most recent work, and the focus of the proposed research, is on the acoustic modality but I am fundamentally interested in how multiple sensory systems are integrated into a physiological and behavioural response in the animal. My lab group uses a combination of neurophysiology, neuroanatomy and behavioural techniques to ascertain the role of acoustic signalling in fish communication and incorporates field studies to decipher the role of environmental parameters in driving sensory evolution.***The proposed research will focus on what I have recently shown is the multimodal nature of underwater sound detection and will also assess mechanistic drivers of sensory evolution. Both the ear and lateral line (LL) mechanoreceptors function similarly at the cellular level and both are useful for underwater sound detection but the contribution of each remains unclear. Recent work from my group has shown that focusing only on the ear misses the integrative nature of underwater sound detection so the current proposed research is designed to test hypotheses on the role of each system in this response. I will use a combination of physiological recording and behavioural responses to measure the response of both the ear and LL and to quantify how these two systems integrate in the brain to drive responses. This will provide insight into the relevance of different sound types to fish and, by bringing in a comparative species approach; I will also be able to test hypotheses on the ecological and evolutionary specializations of acoustic detection. To examine the role of sound in a sensory ecology context, I will use passive acoustic recording in a range of habitats to test hypothesized relationships between acoustic communication and both natural and anthropogenic noise levels. Previous work has hypothesized an important role of background noise in affecting fish communication but little direct experimentation has been done.  Finally, to test evolutionary drivers behind sensory development, I will examine interactions between genetic and environmental influences on sensory morphology and function. Integral to the proposed research will be the training of HQP at the undergraduate, MSc and PhD levels. I will continue my current practice of matching students with projects that best suit their interests, with HQP training in neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, behavioural assays and acoustical analysis.  Taken together the proposed research will offer important new insights on the neuroethology of acoustic communication in fish and move the field in important new evolutionary directions.**