Electrocommunication signals in free swimming brown ghost knifefish, Apteronotus leptorhynchus

Brown ghost knifefish, Apteronotus leptorhynchus, are a species of weakly electric fish that produce a continuous electric organ discharge (EOD) that is used in navigation, prey capture and communication. Stereotyped modulations of EOD frequency and amplitude are common in social situations and are thought to serve as communication signals. Of these modulations, the most commonly studied is the chirp. This study presents a quantitative analysis of chirp production in pairs of free-swimming, physically interacting male and female A. leptorhynchus. Under these conditions, we found that in addition to chirps, the fish commonly produce a second signal type, a type of frequency rise called abrupt frequency rises, AFRs. By quantifying the behaviours associated with signal production, we find that Type 2 chirps tend to be produced when the fish are apart, following periods of low aggression, whereas AFRs tend to be produced when the fish are aggressively attacking one another in close proximity. This study is the first to our knowledge that quantitatively describes both electrocommunication signalling and behavioural correlates on a subsecond time-scale in a wave-type weakly electric fish.