Loud noise -- Danger for octo?

[bluezombie]

Alright well im setting up my aquarium and all that and right now it's cycling. And recently i bought a new guitar amplifier. Now im having a little dilemma. The amp is really big, and loud. And it makes the earth shake a little no matter how low you put it. Is there a chance of danger for the octopus from the loud noise emitted?

 

[gjbarord]

That is difficult to answer. The first gut reaction would be to say yes, the loud noises will affect the octopus but this may not be the case. Many octopus in aquaria are subject to non-stop noises from the surrounding systems; not to mention the guest interaction all day long (tapping on glass, talking, etc.).

The thing that I would worry about most is the type of sound, and type of vibration it may emit. An amplifier would obviously put off some large vibrations. I would say that this type of vibration may be detrimental to the octopus.

The vibrations may cause the octopus to behave abnormally and increase activity. These vibrations may also have secondary effects on the immune system which may leave the octopus to be more susceptible to infections.

So, it is definitely not the best situation but I would not say that it is a not serious concern.

Greg

 

[shipposhack]

I read that octopuses are believed to be deaf. If that is true the loud noises shouldn't matter but I would worry about large vibrations from the speakers that even we can feel when it gets too loud (I.E. lots of bass). My guess is that the octopus would be able to sense the vibrations to a finer degree than we can, especially through the water.

 

[Tintenfisch]

There has been some previous discussion of hearing in cephs over in this thread...

 

[Jean]

I'd be worried. We have been getting our Jetty rebuilt and due to site constraints the cement had to be brought in by chopper which flew directly over the aquarium, all the critters were freaked but the octopus inked two or three times before it seemed to get used to the vibration. Whether or not octopus can hear is a moot point, they can detect vibration (Budelmann & Bleckmann found a lateral line analogue in Sepia and Lolliguncula......not unreasonable to assume that octis have something similar! Bernd U. Budelmann and Horst Bleckmann,(1988), A lateral line analogue in cephalopods: water waves generate microphonic potentials in the epidermal head lines of Sepia and Lolliguncula. Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, v 164 (1), p. 1-5).

J