Underwater Ambient Biological Noise in the Waters on the West Coast of Taiwan

Underwater ambient noise was surveyed along the shallow-water banks in the regions adjacent to the estuaries of seven major rivers on the west coast of Taiwan. Attention was paid only to the sounds which were considered to be emitted by soniferous fishes. Eight sound types were recorded from the study areas. They were compared to the hand-held disturbance sounds of nine soniferous species captured in the coastal waters of Taiwan in order to determine the origins of the sounds found in the wild. There were few cases of high matches. The sea catfish was treated as the producer of the highfrequency sound commonly occurring in these areas.