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Sturgeons’ booty calls apparently have a bass beat.
Scientists have discovered that the huge, Volkswagen-sized fish have been making thunderous, rumbling sounds while getting it on in the Hudson River, per a raunchy study published in the journal Endangered Species Research.
“It’s almost that you feel it more than you hear it,” study co-author Maija Niemistö, of the New York State Water Resources Institute, said in a press release. “You can hear these chirps and squirts and bubbles underwater, but this is a different experience entirely.”
The researchers happened upon eardrum-busting cacophony while eavesdropping on the mating habits of the Atlantic sturgeon, an endangered species that can grow to 14 feet long and live up to 60 years.
During their reproductive process, the female can release up to 2 million eggs into the water, which the males fertilize externally by broadcasting milt — a sperm-filled fluid — into the water nearby.
In other words, the randy river monsters don’t actually get fin-to-fin while hooking up
By using underwater microphones placed in the prehistoric giants’ suspected spawning grounds in the Hudson, they were able to record this long-distance romance for the first time ever.
Accompanying audio captures the underwater rumbling, which evokes a train passing overhead.
It’s yet unclear what causes sturgeons to bring the thunder down under, whether it be actual sex sounds or a form of intraspecies pillow talk.
Lead author Rebecca Cohen, of the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at Cornell, theorized that the resonance could be caused by jostling of the sturgeon’s swim bladder as it thrashes against the females during mating — a behavior that’s been observed at the hatchery.
However, more research is needed to confirm the source of the sturgeon’s alleged sexual soundtrack, Scientific American reported.
Researchers weren’t just recording the amorous acoustics for kicks; the recordings allow researchers to potentially keep tabs on locations and populations of the magnificent fish.
“If we can use sounds to track when and where they’re spawning in the river, that’s a really crucial insight to inform management in these freshwater environments and protections,” said Cohen.
In turn, they could help save a species that was brought from the brink in the 19th and 20th centuries by commercial anglers interested in their eggs, Popular Science reported.
Before the late 1800s, the Hudson was home to 6,000 Atlantic sturgeon. Now, only 700 reside in the river, which nonetheless boasts the species’ largest population.
Unfortunately, their recovery has been hampered in part by their slow rate of replication; females wait up to 20 years before they first spawn.
“They got wiped out relatively quickly because they don’t have the ability to reproduce and replace themselves quickly,” added Amanda Higgs, study co-author and a fisheries biologist with NYSDEC Hudson River Fisheries Unit.
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