Small fish is as loud as a fighter jet. The males of the tropical fish species Danionella cerebrum are only around one centimeter long, but produce enormous noise.
Researchers have now discovered their trick using high-speed cameras. In the animals, a so-called drum cartilage shoots against the swim bladder with 2,000 times the acceleration due to gravity. The sounds therefore serve for communication in the murky rivers. "It's a mystery how the fish manage not to become deaf," says one researcher.