时差N小时:鱼,鱼,鱼,音乐鱼

Don: Today on "A Moment of Science," herring makesounds when passing gas...

唐：今日科学时刻，鲱鱼放屁时会发出声音...

Yael: Don, be serious!

雅艾尔：唐，正经点!

Don: I am serious, Yael! The Atlantic herring is oneof the most abundant fish on Earth!The silvery foot-long fish live in huge schools of thousands tohundreds of thousands of individuals.

唐：我很正经啊，雅艾尔!大西洋的鲱鱼是世界上数量最多的鱼类之一!这种银白色的长足鱼成群而居，每一群都有成百上千条鲱鱼。

Fishermen have long known that herring schools can release large clouds of bubbles that arevisible from the surface. The bubbles are released through the anal opening, connected to thefish's swim bladder.

人们早就知道鲱鱼群会吐出巨大的从水面都能看见的气泡云。这些气泡来自于鱼鳔，通过肛门释放。

Yael: What's a swim bladder?

雅艾尔：什么是鱼鳔?

Don: It's a special, gas-filled organ that helps regulate buoyancy. Herring gulp air at thesurface 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 chirpswere produced.

唐：它是一种特殊的充满气体的器官，有助于调节鱼体的浮力。鲱鱼在水面大口吸气，把氧气存在鱼鳔里。很早以前人们也知道鲱鱼会发出类似啾啾的声音，尤其在受到惊吓或者遇到危险时。但那时生物学家们并不知道这种啾啾声是如何产生的。

Yael: I think I know where this is heading!

雅艾尔：我大概知道接下来你要说什么了!

Don: Yep! A pair of Danish biologists recorded herring housed in special pressurized tanks thatreplicated conditions at the ocean depths where herring are found. They discovered that thechirping sounds were actually produced by air release from the swim bladder during thebubble production—the first report of sound production by gas release in fishes.

唐：没错!两位丹麦生物学家研究记录了一群鲱鱼，为了仿造了鲱鱼出没的深海环境，他们把鲱鱼养在特殊增压箱里的。他们发现啾啾声实际上是在鱼鳔释放气体，产生气泡时发出的，这是人类第一个有关鱼类释放气体发声的报告。

Yael: So the chirps are just a by-product of passing gas?

雅艾尔：所以说啾啾声只不过是放屁时的意外收获?

Don: That is what's intriguing scientists, since the bubbles are released by the fish inresponse to stress, and occur whether the fish are ascending or descending, they don't thinkthat it's simply part of controlling buoyancy.

唐：这正是令科学家们振奋的原因。鱼体受到压力作用，就会释放气泡，当浮起或下沉时也会这样，他们不认为这仅仅是为了控制浮力。

Some scientists speculate that the sound and bubbles might work as a visual and acousticscreen to confuse predators, but more studies are needed to determine if the chirpingbubbles have a behavioral function or not.

一些科学家们推断，鱼类在利用声音和气泡形成有视听效果的屏障，来迷惑捕食者。但是要确定啾啾声和气泡是否具有行为功能还需要进一步的研究。