The Circadian Patterns of Snapping Shrimp in an Estuarine Habitat
Discipline: Ecology Environmental and Earth Sciences
Subcategory: Ecology
Session: 1
Alexandria Ambrose - Savannah State University
Co-Author(s): Emily Weigel, Savannah State University, GA: Dr. Amanda Kaltenberg, Savannah State University, GA
The ocean is abundant with anthropogenic and ambient noise from many sources. One significant source of ambient noise in shallow coastal habitats, coral reefs, and oyster reefs are snapping shrimp. Snapping shrimp are in the family Alpheidae, but only species of the genera Alpheus and Synalpheus are known for producing such loud sounds. Snapping shrimp are often considered a constant background noise in many soundscapes and often removed from signals analyzed for fish activity. Most animals have a circadian rhythm to their behavior, which can be categorized into intrinsic (based on internal instincts) and exogenous (based on environmental cues). This project tested the hypothesis that snapping shrimp calls have a circadian rhythm in an estuarine habitat with diurnal and tidal influences. A passive acoustic hydrophone was used to record snapping shrimp calls from an estuarine soundscape over sunrise and sunset times and at high and low tide. Results show that snapping shrimp calls were more active at sunset and may have influences based on the tidal state as well. The conclusion that snapping shrimp may not be a constant background noise in soundscapes is significant to the interpretation of future passive acoustic studies. Future studies include observing the circadian rhythms of snapping shrimp with influences of other organisms and temperature. This project was made funded by NSF HBCU UP (Award #1600969)
Funder Acknowledgement(s): National Science Foundation
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Amanda Kaltenberg, kaltenberga@savannahstate.edu
Role: I participated in deploying the hydrophone; which includes changing the sim cards on the recorder. I helped design the methods and pick sampling days. I was responsible for counting the snaps and calculating the snap rate per minute.