It’s common knowledge that whales, porpoises and orcas communicate with various noises, so Cornell University researchers wondered if regular old fish are communicating, too. Consequently, they studied ray-finned fish, which are 99% of the world’s known fish species. Pictured, a longspine squirrelfish, courtesy of Cornell.

The answer: Fish do talk. “… Fish are far more likely to communicate with sound than generally thought,” a recent study says, “and some fish have been doing this for at least 155 million years.” The topics? Sex, food and territory. 

“Fish do everything,” researcher Aaron Rice said. “… at this point, nothing would surprise me about fishes and the sounds that they can make.”