Characterizing three shallow-water locations off Goa, India, using passive acoustic data

In this study, an analysis of the passive acoustic data is carried out for the quantitative characterization of shallow-water acoustic environments from three major estuarine systems of Goa during the months of March and April. The identification of fish sounds was carried out using waveform and peak power spectral densities (PSDs) of the individual fish calls. Fish sound data showed that the toadfish of the Batrachoididae family (Colletteichthys dussumieri species) produced a spectral level 112.27 ± 4.48 dB re 1 μPa² /Hz at 448.96 ± 40.30 Hz frequency from the mangrove-dominated tidally influenced Mandovi estuary. Similarly, in a coral reef area near Grande Island in the Zuari estuary, Tiger Perch fish from the Terapontidae family (Terapon threaps species) were identified, having spectral levels 106.91 ± 3.08 dB re 1 μPa² /Hz at 1791.56 ± 106.55 Hz frequency. From the Sal estuary, PSD levels were found to be around 98.24 ± 2.98 dB re 1 μPa²/Hz at 1796.95 ± 72.76 Hz frequency for Tiger Perch of the Terapontidae family (T. threaps species). To characterize the contributions of biophony (fish), geophony (wind and flow, etc.), and anthrophony (boats, etc.), cluster analysis is employed. In the Mandovi estuary, the root-mean-square sound pressure level (SPLrms) of broadband toadfish was a function of the water flow and temperature. In the Zuari estuary, SPLrms was a function of the water temperature and wind, whereas in the Sal estuary, wind mainly influenced the SPLrms.