Measurement and numerical modelling of swim bladder resonance properties of recently euthanised brown trout (Salmo trutta)

Abstract

Swim bladders in some teleost fish can act as gas-filled cavities that oscillate under acoustic pressure and transfer the sound energy to the inner ears. Quantifying the resonance frequency and damping of these oscillations is useful for linking swim bladder mechanics to hearing-related and behavioural questions, but many established direct-measure approaches have relied on open-water deployments and careful avoidance of boundary reflections, making experiments logistically demanding and difficult to reproduce (e.g., requiring deep-water sites, careful control of surface/boundary reflections, and complex deployment geometries). This study presents a compact laboratory methodology for estimating swim bladder resonance properties using a closed, fully water-filled stainless-steel impedance tube. Broadband pseudorandom excitation is applied via an end-plate shaker, and the acoustic response of the system is recorded using wall-mounted hydrophones. Resonance peaks are identified using power spectral estimates of recorded signals, allowing resonance frequency and quality factor to be extracted from the peak location and −3 dB bandwidth. The approach is first established using inflated latex balloons as surrogate encapsulated gas cavities, providing a controlled benchmark for repeatability and interpretation. It is then applied to recently euthanised brown trout (Salmo trutta), where clear resonance features attributable to the swim bladder are observed and show systematic variation with body size. A coupled finite element model reproduces the principal resonance behaviour under the experimental loading and supports interpretation of the measured peaks as swim bladder resonance. The results provide a validated foundation for subsequent non-invasive measurements on live, free-swimming fish and for future applications where swim bladder condition may be relevant to management or conservation.

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Identifiers

ORCID for William Luocheng Wu: orcid.org/0009-0008-0506-8350

ORCID for Philip Ericsson: orcid.org/0000-0002-4322-6961

ORCID for Paul Kemp: orcid.org/0000-0003-4470-0589

ORCID for Paul Robert White: orcid.org/0000-0002-4787-8713

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