Volume 76, Number 1, 101-108, DOI: 10.1007/s10641-006-9012-9

Evoked Potential Audiograms of the Nurse Shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) and the Yellow Stingray (Urobatis jamaicensis)

Brandon M. Casper and David A. Mann

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Abstract

The hearing thresholds of the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum, and the yellow stingray, Urobatis jamaicensis, were measured using auditory evoked potentials (AEP). Stimuli were calibrated using a pressure-velocity probe so that the acoustic field could be completely characterized. The results show similar hearing thresholds for both species and similar hearing thresholds to previously measured audiograms for the lemon shark, Negaprion brevirostris, and the horn shark, Heterodontis francisi. All of these audiograms suggest poor hearing abilities, raising questions about field studies showing attraction of sharks to acoustic signals. By extrapolating the particle acceleration thresholds into estimates of their equivalent far-field sound pressure levels, it appears that these sharks cannot likely detect most of the sounds that have attracted sharks in the field.

Key words  Elasmobranch - Hearing - Audiogram - Auditory Evoked Potential - Particle acceleration

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