(PhysOrg.com) -- Professor Roger Bland is listening in on one of the noisier creatures in San Francisco Bay, using physics to analyze the mating song of the toadfish. While fish don't have vocal chords, they have innovative ways of producing sound. The toadfish, or plainfin midshipman as it is sometimes called because of its button-like markings, is known for its vociferous nighttime mating call. During the summer mating season, the toadfish enter the bay and the male toadfish vibrate the muscles of their swim bladder to invite females to their nests on the bottom of the bay.