While watching the movie Nemo with my nephew, the little girl at dentist kept tapping the fishes tank and the vibrant sound of the tapping on the tank bothers fishes and it tends to hurt them. It brought back memories of my old fish when my mom used to tell me to never tap on his tank because it scares them. But how if they don't have ears? This week of observation I wanted to find out how betta fishes can hear noises. While observing Mellowmoon, close to his fins I saw that by his head something moves in and out. It some what looks like his head is disconnected from his body but I have a feeling those are his ears. But how do I know for sure if those are his ears?
I did some research and in the article, "Betta Senses," by Adam Short he explains how betta fishes do have ears that is "consisting of a single inner chamber." The vibrations of the water is a way the betta fish can ditinguish sounds and the swim bladder (internal gas-filled organ that contributes to the ability of a fish to control its buoyancy) is also a big role for better fishes to distinguish different sounds.
I wanted to see the reactions of Mellowmoon while tapping on his tank to see if he would act a certain way and nothing seemed to happen. I was expecting Mellowmoon to swim away or act a certain way but he didn't. The only thing I did notice is that his "ears" open up wider every time I do that and I wonder if it's because the vibration of the water is wider. It creeps me out looking at Mellowmoon and realizing that there is something by his head opening up but in reality it's just his ears. I didn't even know fishes had ears.
In the video below is a small clip of Mellowmoon swimming but it shows how his ears work. While looking closely you can see that by his fins are his ears that open up. It's a bit weird but cool!
(Video By Edith Gonzalez)
Work Cited.
Short, Adam. "Betta Senses." www.bettafishcenter.com. N.p. 25 Jan. 2013. Web. 2 Nov. 2014.
This was really interesting because I use to have the same fish too, and wondered the same thing. When ever I tapped on the fish tank he never got scared. Love the video.
ReplyDeleteI know that when Wes is fishing, he wants me to be quiet. He says I can scare the fish away. I always thought it was just a way to get me to quiet talking.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know fishes had ears either, that's soo cool ! I guess fishes have to hear so they can be aware of their surroundings but It's a little interesting because their ears aren't very visible.
ReplyDelete