Scientists have unveiled a breakthrough tool that lets them identify fish by the sounds they make. By pairing spatial audio with 360° video, researchers have published the most extensive collection of fish sounds ever recorded, capturing a chorus that had remained largely unknown until now.

The challenge

For some time, ecologists have been studying the soundscapes of reefs. However, it has proven challenging to link the jumble of sounds, which include pops, thumps and snaps, to specific species. With hundreds of fish sharing the same reef, very few sounds had ever been reliably attributed to specific species.

The solution

The new Omnidirectional Underwater Passive Acoustic Camera (UPAC-360) overcomes this barrier by synchronising spatial audio with 360° video. First tested in Curaçao, this method allowed researchers to link 46 fish species with the sounds they produce—more than half of which had never been previously known to make noise.

Why it matters

Fish sounds can now be catalogued and used to train machine-learning systems, paving the way for reef monitoring tools similar to bird-identification apps. "By identifying which species produce which sounds, we're enabling the decoding of reef soundscapes and transforming acoustic monitoring into a powerful tool for ocean conservation," said Dr Marc Dantzker of FishEye Collaborative.

The collection is already accessible online and is expected to grow to include other reefs in Hawaii and Indonesia. The technology could be used to provide low-cost, long-term reef monitoring, say researchers. This would give governments and conservationists a much-needed tool as climate change and overfishing continue to threaten coral ecosystems.