評(píng)論
打印
Don: Today on "A Moment of Science," herring make sounds when passing gas...
唐：今日科學(xué)時(shí)刻，鯡魚放屁時(shí)會(huì)發(fā)出聲音...
Yael: Don, be serious!
雅艾爾：唐，正經(jīng)點(diǎn)！
Don: I am serious, Yael! The Atlantic herring is one of the most abundant fish on Earth!The silvery foot-long fish live in huge schools of thousands to hundreds of thousands of individuals.
唐：我很正經(jīng)啊，雅艾爾！大西洋的鯡魚是世界上數(shù)量最多的魚類之一！這種銀白色的長(zhǎng)足魚成群而居，每一群都有成百上千條鯡魚。
Fishermen have long known that herring schools can release large clouds of bubbles that are visible from the surface. The bubbles are released through the anal opening, connected to the fish's swim bladder.
人們?cè)缇椭丽E魚群會(huì)吐出巨大的從水面都能看見(jiàn)的氣泡云。這些氣泡來(lái)自于魚鰾，通過(guò)肛門釋放。
Yael: What's a swim bladder?
雅艾爾：什么是魚鰾？
Don: It's a special, gas-filled organ that helps regulate buoyancy. Herring gulp air at the surface and store it in their swim bladders. It's also long been known that herring make chirp-like sounds, especially when startled or in danger, but biologists didn't know how these chirps were produced.
唐：它是一種特殊的充滿氣體的器官，有助于調(diào)節(jié)魚體的浮力。鯡魚在水面大口吸氣，把氧氣存在魚鰾里。很早以前人們也知道鯡魚會(huì)發(fā)出類似啾啾的聲音，尤其在受到驚嚇或者遇到危險(xiǎn)時(shí)。但那時(shí)生物學(xué)家們并不知道這種啾啾聲是如何產(chǎn)生的。
Yael: I think I know where this is heading!
雅艾爾：我大概知道接下來(lái)你要說(shuō)什么了！
Don: Yep! A pair of Danish biologists recorded herring housed in special pressurized tanks that replicated conditions at the ocean depths where herring are found. They discovered that the chirping sounds were actually produced by air release from the swim bladder during the bubble production—the first report of sound production by gas release in fishes.
唐：沒(méi)錯(cuò)！兩位丹麥生物學(xué)家研究記錄了一群鯡魚，為了仿造了鯡魚出沒(méi)的深海環(huán)境，他們把鯡魚養(yǎng)在特殊增壓箱里的。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)啾啾聲實(shí)際上是在魚鰾釋放氣體，產(chǎn)生氣泡時(shí)發(fā)出的，這是人類第一個(gè)有關(guān)魚類釋放氣體發(fā)聲的報(bào)告。
Yael: So the chirps are just a by-product of passing gas?
雅艾爾：所以說(shuō)啾啾聲只不過(guò)是放屁時(shí)的意外收獲？
Don: That is what's intriguing scientists, since the bubbles are released by the fish in response to stress, and occur whether the fish are ascending or descending, they don't think that it's simply part of controlling buoyancy.
唐：這正是令科學(xué)家們振奮的原因。魚體受到壓力作用，就會(huì)釋放氣泡，當(dāng)浮起或下沉?xí)r也會(huì)這樣，他們不認(rèn)為這僅僅是為了控制浮力。
Some scientists speculate that the sound and bubbles might work as a visual and acoustic screen to confuse predators, but more studies are needed to determine if the chirping bubbles have a behavioral function or not.
一些科學(xué)家們推斷，魚類在利用聲音和氣泡形成有視聽(tīng)效果的屏障，來(lái)迷惑捕食者。但是要確定啾啾聲和氣泡是否具有行為功能還需要進(jìn)一步的研究。
可可原創(chuàng)，未經(jīng)許可請(qǐng)勿轉(zhuǎn)載
