Master project

 Noise under water: influence on the perch behavior and stress
Supervisors: Amélie Crespel and Katja Anttila
Underwater noise is used in Finnish water to repel predators
and protect exploited fish. However, such noise can also
induce a lot of noise pollution that can ultimately perturbate
fish populations.
In this project we are especially interested to test experimentally how underwater noise can
influence the behaviour of an exploited fish, the perch, and potentially induce physiological
stress.
In this project the student will investigate the response of the fish by exposing groups of fish to different level
of underwater noise, while measuring the effects on the fish behaviour and stress.
The student on the project will:
1) participate in the rearing of the fish
2) measure the individual activity, risk-taking and shoaling of the fish by recording videos of the fish and
analyzing them using the software Ethovision,
3) measure the whole animal oxygen metabolism with respirometry, and other blood physiological stress
indicators (e.g. cortisol level, heamatocrit),
4) possibly other measurements e.g. the energy metabolism enzyme activities with spectrophotometric assays
can be added pending on the student interest
5) Analyse the data and perform statistical analysis using R
Requirements: Curiosity, Interest in behavioural and physiology questions, good team spirit, good motivation
for lab work, Previous experience with behaviour analysis or laboratory techniques, as well as statistical
analysis would be appreciated. English skills.
Location of the internship: The student will be hosted at the department of Biology, Turku university.
Starting January 2026. Application by the 31th of October with CV and motivation letter.
Possibilities to apply for Erasmus program
For more details, do not hesitate to contact amelie.crespel@utu.fi