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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 59(6)

Occurrence, home range and movement patterns of juvenile bull (Carcharhinus leucas) and lemon (Negaprion brevirostris) sharks within a Florida estuary

B. G. Yeiser A D , M. R. Heupel A B and C. A. Simpfendorfer A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Center for Shark Research, Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, Florida 34236, USA.

B School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia.

C Fishing and Fisheries Research Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: byeiser@gmail.com

Marine and Freshwater Research 59(6) 489-501 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF07181
Submitted: 11 October 2007  Accepted: 27 March 2008   Published: 19 June 2008

Abstract

The movement patterns of large juveniles are poorly known for many shark species. With increasing pressure on shark populations these data are critical for the management of large coastal species. A series of acoustic receivers were positioned in Pine Island Sound, Florida, USA, to passively track the long-term movements of large juvenile bull (Carcharhinus leucas) and lemon (Negaprion brevirostris) sharks. Nineteen C. leucas and five N. brevirostris were monitored during 2003 and 2004. Individual C. leucas were present for 8 to 89 days, while N. brevirostris were present for 12 to 83 days. Weekly minimum convex polygons and kernel utilisation distributions were calculated to demonstrate the home range and core areas of use of both species. Spectral analysis demonstrated that several N. brevirostris showed repetitive diel north–south movement patterns over periods of up to 28 consecutive days. C. leucas demonstrated regular use of backwater habitats. Long-term use of estuarine areas by these large juvenile sharks suggests that estuarine coastal lagoons provide an important habitat for this portion of their life history and as such, protection of these habitats may assist in shark management and conservation.

Additional keyword: acoustic monitoring.


Acknowledgements

We thank the Mote Marine Laboratory staff that provided assistance with this project: J. Morris, J. Tyminski and T. Wiley and numerous student interns who participated in this fieldwork. A special thank you to M. Amato and A. Collins for their efforts throughout the project. This manuscript was improved by helpful feedback from three reviewers. Funding for this research was provided by the Mote Scientific Foundation and the J. N. ‘Ding’ Darling National Wildlife Refuge. All research was conducted under IACUC and sampling permits to M. R. Heupel.


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