# Do freshwater Fish make Noise? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780 "2006-12-27T19:51:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/1 "2006-12-27T19:51:33Z")
In the oceans, many creatures, including fish, shrimp, whales, etc., make copious amounts of noise. this serves various purposes, such as echolocation, identification, warnings to other species, etc. My question; if you lowered a hydrophone into a well-stocked lake, would you hear similar sounds as well? Are freshwater species just as noisey as they soltwater cousins? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/2 "2006-12-27T19:54:45Z")
There are a few species of catfish that make a croaking noise. That said, I think the capacity for noisemaking in saltwater fish is just as rare; I’m not sure you have an accurate audio picture of what life under the sea sounds like. Cetaceans echolocate, yes. Otherwise, it’s a pretty silent world. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/3 "2006-12-27T21:51:49Z")
Sometimes when you pull a catfish out of the water it _screams_. ---
**Author:** ![Godfrey\_Daniels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Godfrey\_Daniels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Godfrey_Daniels)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/4 "2006-12-27T21:54:48Z")
Another that I know of is a Drum. I believe it’s related to Carp. It makes a, well, _drumming_ noise. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/5 "2006-12-27T21:56:29Z")
I’ve fished beaver ponds in Massachusetts. The Bullhead (catfish type of fish) “croak” at you (I’m guessing from the pain, or distress, of having a hook in their gullet) when pulled from the water. I don’t know if they use that ability for other purposes underwater, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/6 "2006-12-27T21:58:16Z")
Certain loaches are quite noisy. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/7 "2006-12-27T22:03:34Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] Sometimes when you pull a catfish out of the water it _screams_. [/QUOTE] Oh, my Gawd. I was sure you were having one over on us city folk until I did some Googling. Apparently they scrape their pectoral fins and amplify the sound through their swim bladders. [Here’s a sound file. More creaky than screaming, thank goodness.](http://www.csupomona.edu/~biotrek/aquatic/fishsounds/platydoras.html) ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@Stan\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/8 "2006-12-27T23:18:03Z")
We have a clock at work with twelve popular freshwater sport fish, and each makes a sound at its appointed hour. I don’t know how many are specialized sounds as suggested by the OP. [Fishbase.org](http://Fishbase.org) has a large amount of data on fish, including sounds. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/9 "2006-12-28T07:42:53Z")
[QUOTE=Dinsdale] Certain loaches are quite noisy. [/QUOTE] I was just coming in to post this very thing. From time to time I’d hear my Yoyo’s make a clicking sound. The Redtail botias were very chattery. Lots of popping and clicking sounds (mostly when they flicked their cheek spikes) ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/10 "2006-12-28T12:16:54Z")
What about the sounds we cannot hear? Anyone knows if lakes and rivers (I would guess the latter not so much) are full of infra-/ultrasounds as the life there communicates? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/11 "2006-12-28T16:13:47Z")
Contrary to the silly wall plaques, largemouth bass do not sing _Don’t Worry, Be Happy._ ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/12 "2006-12-28T16:20:23Z")
Sometimes its hard to hear anything for the frogs and alligators. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/13 "2006-12-28T16:40:06Z")
I somehow don’t think frogs and alligators count, even if they live in freshwater. My dad caught a catfish once, and I remember it making a more, well, _screamy_ noise than that audio file. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-freshwater-fish-make-noise/385780/14 "2006-12-28T18:58:22Z")
umm… why hasnt anybody else tried to google “fist farts” ? this news site says: > [@](#): > > Herring make farting sounds at night, Canadian and British scientists say. > Ben Wilson of the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre in Vancouver and his British colleagues investigated their secret noises. > > At night, herring squeeze bubbles out of their swim bladders through an anal pore. > > The action produces distinctive sounds, resembling a person blowing raspberries or farting. > The fish tend to make noise more often when in the company of others, which suggests it plays a social role, the researchers say (and don’t thank me–the credit goes to Dave Barry for a funny column about fish farts–Gee whiz, humor can come in handy sometimes)