Register      Login
Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > MF > MF09153
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 61(5)

Diel movement patterns and habitat preferences of the common thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus) in the Southern California Bight

D. Cartamil A D , N. C. Wegner A , S. Aalbers B , C. A. Sepulveda B , A. Baquero C and J. B. Graham A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Marine Biology Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093-0204, USA.

B Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research, 315 N. Clementine St., Oceanside, CA 92054, USA.

C Fundacion Equilibrio Azul, PO Box 17116025, Quito, Ecuador.

D Corresponding author. Email: dcartamil@ucsd.edu

Marine and Freshwater Research 61(5) 596-604 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF09153
Submitted: 23 June 2009  Accepted: 12 November 2009   Published: 28 May 2010

Abstract

The common thresher shark, Alopias vulpinus, is the basis of the largest commercial shark fishery in California waters. We used acoustic telemetry to determine the diel movement patterns and habitat preferences of this species in the Southern California Bight (SCB), where commercial fishing for the common thresher shark is concentrated. Eight common threshers (fork length: 122–203 cm) were tagged with temperature and depth-sensing acoustic transmitters and tracked for periods ranging from 22 to 49 h. Tracked sharks preferentially utilized deep offshore waters, and avoided shallower waters over the continental shelf. Mean rate of movement (ROM ± s.d.) was 2.15 ± 0.46 km h−1. ROM and angular concentration (r, a measure of relative linearity) both showed a strong daytime pattern, with highest values at dawn that decreased throughout the day, whereas nocturnal ROM and r were less variable. Daytime vertical movements consisted of either vertical excursions below the thermocline or relatively level swimming within the upper portion of the thermocline. Nocturnally, all sharks remained within the mixed layer. These findings suggest that the common thresher shark is primarily a daytime predator, and have relevance for estimating how the alteration of the set depth of fishing-gear could affect catch rates of this species in the SCB.

Additional keywords: acoustic telemetry, drift gill-net, fishery management, pelagic.


Acknowledgements

This work was supported by California Sea Grant (Grant #R/F-193), the William H. and Mattie Wattis Harris Foundation, the Tinker Foundation, the Moore Family Foundation, UC Mexus-CONACYT, J. Steinitz, and a gift from J. Bohn. D. Cartamil was supported by a fellowship from the Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, and the Tuna Industry Endowment Fund. We thank T. Thomas, L. Brammer, and K. Duff at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Machine Science Development Center for custom construction of the acoustic tracking system, and J. Dufour and B. Jones for use of the tracking vessel ‘Saikhon’. D. Holts and the National Marine Fisheries Service provided the tracking vessel R/V ‘Phoenix’ and essential tracking equipment. Thanks to E. Kisfaludy and the many volunteers who assisted in fishing and tracking operations. We also thank D. Checkley, P. Hastings, C. Lennert, R. Rosenblatt, D. Woodruff, and two anonymous referees for commenting on this manuscript. All procedures were performed under the guidelines of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the University of California, San Diego (protocol S00080).


References

Abrahams, M. , and Kattenfield, M. (1997). The role of turbidity as a constraint on predator–prey interactions in aquatic environments. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 40, 169–174.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Batschelet E. (1981). ‘Circular Statistics in Biology.’ (Academic Press: London.)

Baum, J. K. , Myers, R. A. , Kehler, D. G. , Worm, B. , Harley, S. J. , and Doherty, P. A. (2003). Collapse and conservation of shark populations in the northwest Atlantic. Science 299, 389–392.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | Carlucci A. F., Eppley R. W., and Beers J. R. (1986). Introduction to the Southern California Bight. In ‘Plankton Dynamics of the Southern California Bight’. (Ed. R. W. Eppley.) pp. 373. (Springer–Verlag: New York.)

Cartamil, D. C. , Wegner, N. C. , Kacev, D. , Ben-aderet, N. , Kohin, S. , and Graham, J. B. (2010). Movement patterns and nursery habitat of juvenile thresher sharks Alopias vulpinus in the Southern California Bight. Marine Ecology Progress Series 404, 249–258.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Compagno L. V. J. (2001). Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Volume 2. Bullhead, mackerel and carpet sharks. (Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes and Orectolobiformes.) FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes 2, FAO, Rome.

Dulvy, N. K. , Baum, J. K. , Clarke, S. , Compagno, L. J. V. , and Cortes, E. , et al. (2008). You can swim but you can't hide: the global status and conservation of oceanic pelagic sharks and rays. Aquatic Conservation: Marine & Freshwater Ecosystems 18, 459–482.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Eganhouse R. P., and Venkatsen M. I. (1993). Chemical oceanography and geochemistry. In ‘Ecology of the Southern California Bight’. (Eds M. D. Dailey, D. J. Reish and J. W. Anderson.) pp. 71–189. (University of California Press: Los Angeles.)

Eitner, B. J. (1995). Systematics of the genus Alopias (Lamniformes: Alopiidae) with evidence for the existence of an unrecognized species. Copeia 1995, 562–571.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Hooge P., and Eichenlaub E. (2000). ‘Animal Movements Extension to Arcview.’ (Alaska Biological Center, US Geological Survey: Anchorage.)

Klimley, A. P. , Beavers, S. C. , Curtis, T. H. , and Jorgensen, S. J. (2002). Movements and swimming behaviour of three species of sharks in La Jolla Canyon, California. Environmental Biology of Fishes 63, 117–135.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Manly B. F. J. (2007). ‘Randomization, Bootstrap and Monte Carlo Methods in Biology.’ (Chapman & Hall: Boca Raton.)

Myers, R. A. , and Worm, B. (2005). Extinction, survival, or recovery of large predatory fishes. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences 360, 13–20.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) (2003). Fishery management plan and environmental impact statement for U.S. west coast highly migratory species. Pacific Fishery Management Council, Portland, OR, USA.

Preti, A. , Smith, S. E. , and Ramon, D. A. (2001). Feeding habits of the common thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus) sampled from the California-based drift gillnet fishery, 1998–1999. Reports of California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations 42, 145–152.
Smith S. E., and Aseltine-Neilson D. (2001). Thresher shark. In ‘California's Living Marine Resources: a Status Report’. (Eds W. S. Leet, C. M. Dewees, R. Klingbeil and E. J. Larson.) pp. 339–341. (California Department of Fish and Game: Sacramento.)

Smith, S. E. , Au, D. W. , and Show, C. (1998). Intrinsic rebound potentials of 26 species of Pacific sharks. Marine and Freshwater Research 49, 663–678.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Weihs D. (1984). Effects of size on sustained swimming speeds of aquatic organisms. In ‘Scale Effects in Animal Locomotion’. (Ed. T. J. Pedley.) pp. 333–338. (Academic Press: New York.)

Weng, K. C. , and Block, B. A. (2004). Diel vertical migration of the bigeye thresher shark (Alopias superciliosus), a species possessing orbital retia mirabilia. Fishery Bulletin 102, 221–229.
Wetherbee B. M., Rechisky E. L., Pratt H. L., and McCandless C. T. (2001). Use of telemetry in fisheries management: juvenile sandbar sharks in Delaware Bay. In ‘Electronic Tagging and Tracking in Marine Fisheries’. (Eds J. R. Sibert and J. Nielsen.) pp. 249–262. (Kluwer Academic Publishers: Boston.)

Wurtsbaugh, W. A. , and Neverman, D. (1988). Post-feeding thermotaxis and daily vertical migration in a larval fish. Nature 333, 846–848.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |