Red Drum Songs

drum solo

Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)

Jacob Oster of the Walther Fish Ecology Lab at Texas A&M Corpus Christi prepares a red drum for dissection.

Red drum can live up to 40 years, and were once plentiful in the Gulf. Overfishing caused the population to collapse in the 1980s, and commercial fishing of the species was prohibited in most Gulf states. Since then, restoration efforts have been underway and the population has recovered enough to support a robust recreational fishery.

Researchers at Ben Walther's Fish Ecology Lab at Texas A & M Corpus Christi seek to contribute to the understanding of red drum migratory patterns and exposure to hypoxic conditions in the Gulf.

The lives of three red drum were musically interpreted by Project Breathless collaborators. Songs were composed with ear stone data gathered from three individual fish. One song tracks the migrations of a 25-year-old fish. The others interpret lives of two fish - one that lived in healthy waters, and another that spent part of its life in one of the Gulf's infamous dead zones.

Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) is an ecologically-important species that is found throughout the Gulf of Mexico. They spawn in estuaries, where young fish spend the first few years of their lives. As they mature, they swim to the open waters of the Gulf, but move seasonally into bays and coastal areas, and even move into tidal rivers, especially in winter.

Above: Ear stones of the three fish profiled in the Red Drum songs.

Wise old fish's ear stone under magnification

song of a wise old Fish

A section of the ear stone of the wise, old drum under magnification.

RedDrum_Old Fish MgCa_CaSr.mp3

Listen to the Song of the Wise Old Fish

This song was composed from chemical data extracted from the ear stone of a 25-year-old red drum. The song features Magnesium (Mg), which reflects a fish's metabolism, performed on the marimba. At the beginning of the song, the marimba plays at a rapid pace that gradually slows, reflecting the fish's metabolism slowing down as it got older.

The song also features, Strontium (Sr) played on trumpet. Strontium helps researchers track fish movement between the ocean and estuaries. Strontium is related to salinity, so when it is deposited on an ear stone it indicates that the fish spent time in saltwater. When there's less Strontium in an ear stone, it indicates that the fish spent time in brackish or fresh water. In the song, lower pitched notes indicate salt water, and higher pitched notes indicate brackish or fresh water.

In a pattern typical of red drum in the Gulf, this fish spent the early part of its life in the brackish waters of a bay (higher pitched), then migrated seasonally between the Gulf and the coast for a few years (sequence of high and low pitches). As a mature fish, it spent most of its time in the Gulf (low pitch).

Magnesium (above) reflects metabolic rate, and therefore is a “clock” or “metronome” of a fish’s life. The peaks on the graph indicate periods of higher metabolism in the summer. Valleys indicate lower metabolism during the colder months.

Strontium indicates when the fish swam in ocean waters.The peaks and valleys indicate the fish's movement between the Gulf and coastal bays. Peaks indicate fresh or brackish water and the valleys indicate salt water.

Song of a lucky Fish

A section of the ear stone of the Lucky Fish under magnification.

RedDrum_Normoxic4_MgCa_1000_MnMg trumpet variation.mp3

Listen to the Song of the Lucky Fish

This red drum was lucky because it spent it's entire life in well-oxygenated waters. It did not encounter the stress of low-oxygen conditions during its lifetime.

The song features Magnesium (Mg), which reflects a fish's metabolism, performed on the marimba. It also introduces Manganese (Mn), played on trumpet. Manganese on an ear stone indicates that a fish spent time in hypoxic water. Sonically, this is represented by pitch - the higher the pitch, the more Manganese. And since this lucky fish didn't swim in hypoxic water, the levels of Manganese in its ear stone is very low, which is reflected in the low pitch of the trumpet throughout much of the song.

Magnesium (above) reflects metabolic rate, and therefore is a “clock” or “metronome” of a fish’s life.

Manganese is an indicator of hypoxic conditions. When the amount of Manganese in an earstone is high, it indicates exposure to low-oxygen conditions. The low levels of Manganese in the Lucky
Fish's ear stones indicate that it did not encounter hypoxic conditions.

song of aN Unlucky Fish

A section of the ear stone of the Unlucky Fish under magnification.

RedDrum_Hypoxic 2_MnCa sub for MgMn_violin.m4a

Listen to the Song of an Unlucky Fish

This red drum was unlucky because it spent more than half its life exposed to low-oxygen conditions in the Gulf.

The song features Magnesium (Mg), which reflects a fish's metabolism, performed on piano and marimba. It also features Manganese (Mn), played on violin enhanced by digital effects.

The Manganese deposited on this fish's ear stone indicated exposure to hypoxic conditions during the first half of its life. It was able to survive, and spent the second half of its life under higher oxygen conditions.

Magnesium (above) reflects metabolic rate, and therefore is a “clock” or “metronome” of a fish’s life.

Manganese is an indicator of hypoxic conditions. When the amount of Manganese in an ear stone is high, it indicates exposure to low-oxygen conditions. The Unlucky
Fish's ear stones indicate that it encountered hypoxic conditions for more than half of it's life.

Copyright © Karin Limburg, Elizabeth LoGiudice, SUNY, RF SUNY / 2020, 2021. All rights reserved. These Fish Songs may not be published, reproduced, displayed, modified or distributed without the express prior written permission of the copyright holder. For permission, contact [klimburg@esf.edu].

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