An Aquatic twist on Song and Dance

The aquatic members of the animal world love to show off their singing and dancing abilities as much as our terrestrial members. Our fishy friends show off their moves the most, especially the cod. The Gadus morhua L. (Cod) use their singing and dancing abilities in their courtship process (Engen, 1999).  In the process of a Cods courtship there is large amounts of dancing and rhythm sequences (Engen, 1999). The first section of the courtship sequence consists of the female dancing around the male to gain the males attention (Engen, 1999). This dancing consists of one of the fish to swim away from the other in a particular direction with the other fish following in the same direction (Engen, 1999). The second section consists of the male cod making a sequence of grunts towards the female (Engen, 1999). These grunts are produced by the mass drumming of a muscle within the males body (Engen, 1999). The final section of this courtship consists of a final dance sequence together before the intended mating happens (Engen, 1999). Fish are not the only species of aquatic organism which use song and dance for survival. 

Crab species although their song and dance is not used for courtship as such, they still require these tools to survive. A crab uses their dancing skills in particular to defend its territory (Clayton, 2008). This dance sequence commences by the crab which is defending its territory rasing up on its outstretched legs (Clayton, 2008). Once in this position the crab proceeds to commence rapid on the spot stepping which leads to sideways movements (Clayton, 2008). These steps get increasingly complex with the larger ones becoming full circle movements around the wanderer (Clayton, 2008). At this point their sound producing abilities coming into the territorial stance, this occurs closely following the dance display (Clayton, 2008). The song consists of long rap trains with drumming events (Clayton, 2008). These rap trains become increasingly spaced out as the wanderer moves away from the other crabs territory (Clayton, 2008). As you can see in the aquatic world there is also evidence of this sound and rhythm. In coming posts we will continue to explore the aquatic world as well as venturing into the world of our larger organisms.