In a recent study entitled “Exposure toanthropogenic noise affects feeding but not territory defence in damselfishes”,Aléxia Lessa, Bioacoustics and Fish Ecology Lead at Diatom, was awardedthe Geographical Award 2025 by the Animal Behavior Society inpartnership with the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour and with thesupport of Elsevier. This award recognizes the best scientific articlespublished in Animal Behaviour, with a special category dedicated toauthors from developing countries.
The study was co-authored by Fabio Xavier,Bioacoustics and AI Lead at Diatom, and Viviane Barroso, UnderwaterAcoustics Expert and Data Scientist at Diatom.
What the research found
Anthropogenic noise is a recognized globalpollutant with documented effects on many marine organisms. However, itsconsequences for reef fishes in natural conditions are still poorly understood.To address this gap, the authors carried out in situ experiments with theendemic damselfish Stegastes fuscus along the Brazilian coast.