Hello everyone,

I added a pair of adult male Spotfin Shiners (Cyprinella spiloptera) to my aquarium about two weeks ago. They are the biggest ones I've ever seen, with the larger one measuring 3.8" and the smaller one not far behind. In fact, the larger one makes the slightly smaller resident Orangespot nervous. They interact (I wouldn't really call it schooling) with my last remaining Red Shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis) as if it were another of their own. The larger male Spotfin has nice lemon yellow fins with black and white tips, and a navy stripe running down his length. He's not metallic blue anymore like when I first captured him, though.

While watching the fish a day after I added the new shiners, I noticed a dull click, like a piece of plastic tapping another. At the same time, the biggest shiner looked like it "coughed" (think of when you feed your fish something too hard or too big and it attempts to swallow it). This happened several times, but I thought the timing of the Spotfin's movement was just a coincidence or maybe a very quick reflex. I checked the bubbler and the filter, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A few days later I noticed the noise again, so I turned off and removed all of the equipment to inspect it. The noise was still coming from the aquarium! I looked inside, and lo and behold, the largest male Spotfin Shiner "coughed" every single time the noise was made. The noise also followed him to the side of the aquarium he was on. The noises were made when chasing off or flaring his fins at the other Spotfin.

I have never heard of shiners making noises... I know some Sunfishes, Drum, Catfish etc. can but not these little guys. I also thought that it was strange that the noise seemed to be controlled by something in the Spotfin's head area. This is because he made the "gagging" motion each time, but never when he was not making the noise. I thought that most noises made by fish were caused by something hitting their swim bladders? Has anyone else heard their shiners make clicking noises?

EDIT: I should add, the click is not loud, it's audible only when you are within a few feet of the aquarium.

Edited by Orangespotted, 21 July 2012 - 02:48 PM.

Cyprinella shiners are known to make noise for territorial disputes and spawning, and also for species recognition .

A lot of cyprinids can use their pharyngeal jaws to make a surprising range of sounds, as can many other fish.

I have seen fallfish caught on hook and line make noises. I do not know if they use them in the wild or not.

Bullheads also make noise when hooked.