Gulf Corvina look pretty ordinary—they're a couple of feet long and silvery. Yet the sounds they make—when millions get together to spawn—are a kind of wonder of the natural world. It's also why they are in danger.
Gulf Corvina live in only one place in the world—the Gulf of California. A decade ago, the Mexican government asked marine biologist Brad Erisman and his colleagues to study the Corvina. They were worried that heavy fishing might cause the population to collapse. When Erisman put a microphone in the water for the first time, he was blown away by the sounds he heard.
UPDATE (13 June 2017): Erisman and his colleagues have published a new paper about their work in the journal Scientific Reports. Read the press release: Spying on Fish Love Calls Could Help Protect Them from Overfishing
Learn More
Video: Spawning Aggregations, Natural Numbers
Video: Corvina Harvest, El Golfo, Marine Ventures Foundation
Biological and fisheries monitoring of the Gulf Corvina in the Upper Gulf of California, dataMARES
Unmanaged Fishing at Spawning Sites Put Species, Economies at Risk, UT Marine Science Institute
About Point of Discovery
Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen via iTunes, RSS, Stitcher or Google Play. Questions or comments about this episode or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart.
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