Can Fish Talk? Gentlemen: <that's not really fair... I
don't actually work for a living> I am writing this at the
behest of my wife. Of course, I, not she, will be subject to your
wonderful humor and good-natured ribbing. But, what the heck! <I
just love the subject line... you made my night:)> We have had our
hippo tang for almost 3 years in our 125G FOw/oLR. He is doing great
and is my wife's favorite. When I go to vacuum the gravel during my
maintenance, and get the vacuum near him, he appears to
"talk". <of course... he's saying, "stop making
all of that noise and get the hell out of my house."> At first
I thought that this was caused by the movement of his tail fin by
either hitting some decorations or making waves in the water. But upon
closer review, the fish appears to be uttering some vocal sounds.
<yep... lots of guttural utterances.. and did you notice him
flicking his little fin under his chin repeatedly...heehee.> Please
enlighten me so I can explain to my better half. <actually a good
question. Indeed... the undersea is full of vocalizations. Many fishes
make a wide variety of sounds with various methods (air bladders,
grinding "teeth"/pharynges. etc). And such sounds are made
for all of the reasons you might imaging, but often out of
stress/aggression at a territorial invader (you bubba)> Thanks,
Mitch <no tank you... and PS, your Blue Tang called me last night
and said that he too was a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Preseason
starts in a month :) Best regards, Anthony Calfo>