Overview of the Effects of Boat Noise on Lusitanian Toadfish

Most marine soundscapes have changed due to the massive presence of anthropogenic noise. Lusitanian toadfish (Halobatrachus didactylus) is a vocal fish species that has been recurrently used as a model in both behavioral and physiological studies, making it an excellent species also to understand the effects of aquatic noise. This chapter aims to review what is known about the effects of boat noise on this species and its possible implications. Vocal behavior, hearing, reproduction, and early stages development of the Lusitanian toadfish are summarized, including several studies that observed effects of boat noise on this species in these different topics. Boat noise can disrupt and decrease calling activity, mask environmental and conspecific signals, reduce reproduction success, induce stress, affect parental care, and even affect larvae development. These results warn of the possible severe effects of noise pollution on fish and warrant the need of further studies addressing the consequences of noise at the population level.