The members of the family Batrachoididae produce sounds associated with courtship and agonistic interactions. While long mating calls are only produced by nesting males, agonistic short duration grunts have been recorded from toadfishes and midshipmen in both males (nesting or not) and females. Sound production results from the contraction of paired sonic muscles attached to the walls of the swimbladder, which cause a rapid variation in swimbladder volume and internal pressure. Both sonic muscle growth and sonic fibre morphology have been shown to be androgen sensitive in batrachoidids
