Snapping shrimps, the loudest invertebrate in the ocean, may be silenced under increasing ocean acidification, a University of Adelaide study has found. Published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the researchers report that under forecast levels of CO2 predicted to be found in oceans by the end of the century, the sound of snapping shrimps would be reduced substantially.

This is expected to have profound consequences for many species that rely on sound cues for information about the location and quality of resources (food, shelter, partners and potential predators). 

"Coastal reefs are far from being quiet environments -- they are filled with loud crackling sounds," says Mr Tullio Rossi, PhD candidate in the University's School of Biological Sciences.

"Shrimp "choruses" can be heard kilometres offshore and are important because they can aid the navigation of baby fish to their homes. But ocean acidification is jeopardising this process."

The snapping shrimp is the most common and noisiest of the sound-producing marine animals in coastal ecosystems. They can produce sounds of up to 210dB through the formation of bubbles by the rapid closing action of their snapping claw, used as a warning sign to scare off predators and in their own hunting.