106 
Fishery Bulletin 1 14(1) 
Table 1 
Record of deployment locations, periods, and number of records used to monitor 
sound production by groupers and other fish species at Riley’s Hump (RH), Tor- 
tugas South Ecological Reserve, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. All re- 
corders were programmed to record 10 s of sound every 10 min at a sample rate 
of 15,094 Hz. At the deepwater site (RHDW), located off the southwestern edge of 
Riley’s Hump, the recorder was deployed at a depth of 60 m. 
Site 
Deployment Period 
Days 
Records 
12 
29 April-28 June 2010 
60 
8640 
12 
18 January-14 July 2011 
177 
25,488 
12A 
29 April 2010-16 July 2011 
443 
63,792 
15 
29 April 2010-9 December 2011 
589 
84,816 
RH1 
18 January 2011-17 June 2012 
516 
74,304 
RH2 
18 January 2011-17 June 2012 
516 
74,304 
RH3 
18 January 2011-21 June 2012 
516 
74,304 
RHDW 
17 July 2011-13 June 2012 
332 
47,808 
Results 
Patterns in fish sound production recorded at all study 
sites were classified into 3 frequency ranges: <200 Hz, 
300-400 Hz, and 500-800 Hz. Identifiable sounds pro- 
duced in the lowest frequency range (<200 Hz) were 
associated mainly with 3 grouper species: red grouper, 
red hind, and black grouper. Positive identification of 
these species in the recordings was based on previous 
descriptions of their sounds (Mann et ah, 2010; Nel- 
son et ah, 2011; Scharer et ah, 2013) and on additional 
evidence from this study of sound production by black 
grouper documented with the A/V systems. Sound pro- 
duction by each of these species was greatest during 
the evening period (1600-0000) but was not significant- 
ly different from any of the 3 time periods (black grou- 
per: F= 3.1, P=0.05; red grouper: F=1.4, P= 0.24; and red 
hind: F=4.5, P=0.64) (Fig. 2). Diel variability in SPLs 
during the winter-spring period ranged from about 5 
to 10 dB SPL (re: 1 pPa) above daily background lev- 
els in the frequency range used by groupers (<200 Hz) 
at all sites during 2011 and 2012 except RHDW. This 
500 r 
Bin 1 Bin 2 Bin 3 Bin 1 Bin 2 Bin 3 Bin 1 Bin 2 Bin 3 
Black grouper Red grouper Red hind 
Figure 2 
Diel pattern of sound production by black grouper (Mycteroperca bonaci ), red grouper (Epi- 
nephelus morio ), and red hind (Epinephelus guttatus) at Riley’s Hump, Tortugas South 
Ecological Reserve, Florida Keys, in 2012. Data are distributed in 3 bins of 8 h each (bin 
1=0000-0800; bin 2=0800-1600; bin 3=1600-0000) and are the sum total of calls identi- 
fied in analysis of 10,000 files randomly selected from the entire database of acoustic 
recordings. The number of calls is greatest during the evening period for these species, 
but significant differences do not exist between time periods for any species based on the 
methods used in this study. 
