Passive acoustic monitoring of Sciaena umbra on rocky habitats in the Venetian littoral zone

A passive listening survey was conducted in the Venetian littoral zone and combined with a meta-analysis on coastal Mediterranean fish communities resulting in the use of Sciaena umbra as a biological indicator of a typical fish community. The passive listening technique allowed the collection of fish presence/absence data, the analysis of the contribution of different sound categories to the total sound production, as well as a quantitative evaluation of the fish acoustic activity. The passive listening survey proved to be successful in detecting S. umbra drumming sounds in two Venetian inlets and on a natural rocky habitat, whereas this species was absent in the inner Venice lagoon. Within one of the two inlets, pulse rate was positively related to the nearest distance of the listening points to an artificial rocky reef. The meta-analysis allowed the identification of a 16-species cluster significantly associated with S. umbra, a large number of which represent commercially important species. Our results suggest the importance of a wider application of the passive listening technique for biological monitoring, with particular focus on Mediterranean coastal habitats and artificial reefs. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.