Bottom water hypoxia suppresses fish chorusing in estuaries

Hypoxia in coastal ecosystems is increasing as a result of water quality declines from nutrient pollution. Hypoxia negatively affects fish populations and marine life, limiting their spawning habitats, population size, and growth. In this study, two approaches were used to understand the effect of hypoxia on the chorusing and reproductive behavior of fishes in estuaries. One approach used a water quality meter integrated with a prototype passive acoustic recorder, developed to monitor dissolved oxygen and fish chorusing simultaneously and continuously at sites with normoxic and hypoxic conditions. In a second approach, passive acoustic recorders were deployed near ambient water quality monitoring stations, monitored by the North Carolina agencies in estuaries where hypoxia occurs periodically. In both approaches, when hypoxia (dissolved oxygen