How a tiny 12mm fish produces sounds as loud as a firework underwater

The team of scientists used high-speed video recordings to investigate the source of the sound produced by the 12mm fish

A small, translucent fish creates a drumming sound as loud as a firework, scientists found in a new study.

The 12mm fish - Danionella cerebrum - was discovered in small streams in the Bago Yoma mountains of Myanmar.

But its transparent body means it is easy to study under a microscope and so has become an emerging model organism in biomedical research.

A study published in the PNAS journal says the creature is capable of producing a sound over 140 decibels, the same as a firework or car racing.

Typically a fishes sound uses muscles to drum on their swim bladder, a gas-filled organ used for buoyancy.

But the Danionella cerebrum generates a louder sound by pulling on a rib when it contracts its muscles, which pulls on cartilage inside the muscle.

When the cartilage is released it hits the swim bladder, which is drummed rapidly by the male fish. Females do not produce the sound because the male rib is larger and harder.

Scientists are yet to establish the reason why the sound makes the sound but hypothesises that its native habitat are shallow and turbid waters in Myanmar so suggest it could be used to navigate low-visibility.

They added it could have evolved as a form of communication in male mating competition.

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