Diel and seasonal variation in the use of a nearshore sandflat by a ray community in a near pristine system
Jeremy J. Vaudo A B and Michael R. Heithaus A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Marine Science Program, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, 3000 NE 151st Street, North Miami, FL 33181, USA.
B Corresponding author. Email: Jeremy.vaudo@fiu.edu
Marine and Freshwater Research 63(11) 1077-1084 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF11226
Submitted: 6 October 2011 Accepted: 21 June 2012 Published: 26 November 2012
Abstract
Knowledge of movements and habitat use is necessary to assess a species’ ecological role and is especially important for mesopredators because they provide the link between upper and lower trophic levels. Using acoustic telemetry, we examined coarse-scale diel and seasonal movements of elasmobranch mesopredators on a shallow sandflat in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Giant shovelnose rays (Glaucostegus typus) and reticulate whiprays (Himantura uarnak) were most often detected in nearshore microhabitats and were regularly detected throughout the day and year, although reticulate whiprays tended to frequent the monitored array over longer periods. Pink whiprays (H. fai) and cowtail stingrays (Pastinachus atrus) were also detected throughout the day, but were far less frequently detected. Overall, there was no apparent spatial or temporal partitioning of the sandflats, but residency to the area varied between species. In addition, ray presence throughout the year suggests that previously observed differences in seasonal abundance are likely because of seasonal changes in habitat use rather than large-scale migrations. Continuous use of the sandflats and limited movements within this ray community suggests that rays have the potential to be a structuring force on this system and that focusing on nearshore habitats is important for managing subtropical ray populations.
Additional keywords: acoustic telemetry, batoid, shark.
References
Ackerman, J. T., Kondratieff, M. C., Matern, S. A., and Cech, J. J. (2000). Tidal influence on spatial dynamics of leopard sharks, Triakis semifasciata, in Tomales Bay, California. Environmental Biology of Fishes 58, 33–43.Andrews, K. S., Williams, G. D., and Levin, P. S. (2010). Seasonal and ontogenetic changes in movement pattersn of sixgill sharks. PLoS ONE 5, e12549.
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.
| 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD3sXjsF2kuw%3D%3D&md5=2e8b684a5503c12959ab6f10629731d3CAS |
Carlisle, A. B., and Starr, R. M. (2009). Habitat use, residency, and seasonal distribution of female leopard sharks Triakis semifasciata in Elkhorn Slough, California. Marine Ecology Progress Series 380, 213–228.
Carlson, J. K., Heupel, M. R., Bethea, D. M., and Hollensead, L. D. (2008). Coastal habitat use and residency of juvenile Atlantic sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae). Estuaries and Coasts 31, 931–940.
Cartamil, D. P., Vaudo, J. J., Lowe, C. G., Wetherbee, B. M., and Holland, K. N. (2003). Diel movement patterns of the Hawaiian stingray, Dasyatis lata: Implications for ecological interactions between sympatric elasmobranch species. Marine Biology 142, 841–847.
Collins, A. B., Heupel, M. R., and Motta, P. J. (2007). Residence and movement patterns of cownose rays Rhinoptera bonasus within a south-west Florida estuary. Journal of Fish Biology 71, 1159–1178.
Collins, A. B., Heupel, M. R., and Simpfendorfer, C. A. (2008). Spatial distribution and long-term movement patterns of cownose rays Rhinoptera bonasus within an estuarine river. Estuaries and Coasts 31, 1174–1183.
Conrath, C. L., and Musick, J. A. (2010). Residency, space use and movement patterns of juvenile sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus) within a Virginia summer nursery area. Marine and Freshwater Research 61, 223–235.
| 1:CAS:528:DC%2BC3cXisVagsr0%3D&md5=6a8663d0dd911aed4bc0604224aba1abCAS |
Cortés, E. (1999). Standardized diet compositions and trophic levels of sharks. ICES Journal of Marine Science 56, 707–717.
Ebert, D. A., and Bizzarro, J. J. (2007). Standardized diet compositions and trophic levels of skates (Chondrichthyes: Rajiformes: Rajoidei). Environmental Biology of Fishes 80, 221–237.
Ferretti, F., Worm, B., Britten, G. L., Heithaus, M. R., and Lotze, H. K. (2010). Patterns and ecosystem consequences of shark declines in the ocean. Ecology Letters 13, 1055–1071.
Finstad, B., Økland, F., Thorstad, E. B., Bjørn, P. A., and McKinley, R. S. (2005). Migration of hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon and wild anadromous brown trout post-smolts in a Norwegian fjord system. Journal of Fish Biology 66, 86–96.
Frisk, M. G. (2010). Life history strategies of batoids. In ‘Sharks and Their Relatives II: Biodiversity, Adaptive Physiology, and Conservation’. (Eds J. C. Carrier, J. A. Musick and M. R. Heithaus.) pp. 283–316. (CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL)
Garla, R. C., Chapman, D. D., Wetherbee, B. M., and Shivji, M. (2006). Movement patterns of young Caribbean reef sharks, Carcharhinus perezi, at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Brazil: the potential of marine protected areas for conservation of a nursery ground. Marine Biology 149, 189–199.
Heithaus, M. R., and Dill, L. M. (2002). Food availability and tiger shark predation risk influence bottlenose dolphin habitat use. Ecology 83, 480–491.
Heithaus, M. R., Wirsing, A. J., Frid, A., and Dill, L. M. (2007). Behavioral indicators in marine conservation: lessons from a pristine seagrass ecosystem. Israel Journal of Ecology & Evolution 53, 355–370.
Heithaus, M. R., Frid, A., Vaudo, J. J., Worm, B., and Wirsing, A. J. (2010). Unraveling the ecological importance of elasmobranchs. In ‘Sharks and Their Relatives II: Biodiversity, Adaptive Physiology, and Conservation’. (Eds J. C. Carrier, J. A. Musick and M. R. Heithaus.) pp. 607–633. (CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL.)
Heupel, M. R., and Hueter, R. E. (2002). Importance of prey density in relation to the movement patterns of juvenile blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) within a coastal nursery area. Marine and Freshwater Research 53, 543–550.
Heupel, M. R., Simpfendorfer, C. A., and Hueter, R. E. (2004). Estimation of shark home ranges using passive monitoring techniques. Environmental Biology of Fishes 71, 135–142.
Heupel, M. R., Semmens, J. M., and Hobday, A. J. (2006). Automated acoustic tracking of aquatic animals: scales, design and deployment of listening station arrays. Marine and Freshwater Research 57, 1–13.
Jorgensen, S. J., Reeb, C. A., Chapple, T. K., Anderson, S., Perle, C., Van Sommeran, S. R., Fritz-Cope, C., Brown, A. C., Klimley, A. P., and Block, B. A. (2010). Philopatry and migration of Pacific white sharks. Proceedings. Biological Sciences 277, 679–688.
Kangas, M., and Thomson, A. (2004). Implementation and assessment of bycatch reduction devices in the Shark Bay and Exmouth Gulf trawl fisheries. Final report to Fisheries Research and Development Corporation on Project 2000/189. Western Australian Department of Fisheries, Perth.
King, J. R., and McFarlane, G. A. (2010). Movement patterns and growth estimates of big skate (Raja binoculata) based on tag-recapture data. Fisheries Research 101, 50–59.
Manjaji, B. M., and White, W. T. (2009). Himantura uarnak. In ‘IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2’. Available at www.iucnredlist.org [Accessed 16 May 2012]
Meyer, C. G., Holland, K. N., and Papastamatiou, Y. P. (2007). Seasonal and diel movements of giant trevally Caranx ignobilis at remote Hawaiian atolls: implications for the design of marine protected areas. Marine Ecology Progress Series 333, 13–25.
Meyer, C. G., Papastamatiou, Y. P., and Holland, K. N. (2010). A multiple instrument approach to quantifying the movement patterns and habitat use of tiger (Galeocerdo cuvier) and Galapagos sharks (Carcharhinus galapagensis) at French Frigate Shoals, Hawaii. Marine Biology 157, 1857–1868.
Morris, D. W. (2003). Toward an ecological synthesis: a case for habitat selection. Oecologia 136, 1–13.
Morrissey, J. F., and Gruber, S. H. (1993). Home range of juvenile lemon sharks, Negaprion brevirostris. Copeia 1993, 425–434.
Musick, J. A., Branstetter, S., and Colvocoresses, J. A. (1993). Trends in shark abundance from 1974 to 1991 for the Chesapeake Bight Region of the U.S. Mid-Atlantic coast. NOAA Technical Report National Marine Fisheries Service 115, 1–18.
Myers, R. A., Baum, J. K., Shepherd, T. D., Powers, S. P., and Peterson, C. H. (2007). Cascading effects of the loss of apex predatory sharks from a coastal ocean. Science 315, 1846–1850.
| 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2sXjsFSitrw%3D&md5=ef94c52575e03549acde2d326c7a950fCAS |
Myrick, J. L., and Flessa, K. W. (1996). Bioturbation rates in Bahia La Choya, Sonora, Mexico. Ciencias Marinas 22, 23–46.
Payne, N. L., Gillanders, B. M., Webber, D. M., and Semmens, J. M. (2010). Interpreting diel activity patterns from acoustic telemetry: the need for controls. Marine Ecology Progress Series 419, 295–301.
Peterson, C. H., Fodrie, F. J., Summerson, H. C., and Powers, S. P. (2001). Site-specific and density-dependent extinction of prey by schooling rays: generation of a population sink in top-quality habitat for bay scallops. Oecologia 129, 349–356.
Pierce, S. J., Pardo, S. A., and Bennett, M. B. (2009). Reproduction of the blue-spotted maskray Neotrygon kuhlii (Myliobatoidei: Dasyatidae) in south-east Queensland, Australia. Journal of Fish Biology 74, 1291–1308.
| 1:STN:280:DC%2BC3cjnt1yntw%3D%3D&md5=b6dbb64dca8f26b55f05991569f9fb7eCAS |
Pierce, S. J., Scott-Holland, T. B., and Bennett, M. B. (2011). Community composition of elasmobranch fishes utilizing intertidal sand flats in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Pacific Science 65, 235–247.
Semeniuk, C. A. D., and Dill, L. M. (2005). Cost/benefit analysis of group and solitary resting in the cowtail stingray, Pastinachus sephen. Behavioral Ecology 16, 417–426.
Shepherd, T. D., and Myers, R. A. (2005). Direct and indirect fishery effects on small coastal elasmobranchs in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Ecology Letters 8, 1095–1104.
Silliman, W., and Gruber, S. (1999). Behavioral biology of the spotted eagle ray, Aetobatus narinari. Bahamas Journal of Science 7, 13–20.
Simpfendorfer, C. A., Heupel, M. R., and Collins, A. B. (2008). Variation in the performance of acoustic receivers and its implication for positioning algorithms in a riverine setting. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 65, 482–492.
Simpfendorfer, C. A., Wiley, T. R., and Yeiser, B. G. (2010). Improving conservation planning for an endangered sawfish using data from acoustic telemetry. Biological Conservation 143, 1460–1469.
Skomal, G. B., Zeeman, S. I., Chisholm, J. H., Summers, E. L., Walsh, H. J., McMahon, K. W., and Thorrold, S. R. (2009). Transequatorial migrations by basking sharks in the western Atlantic Ocean. Current Biology 19, 1019–1022.
| 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD1MXnsFOqtLo%3D&md5=61968ed8ffe2acb0f0d6f1c6e0214a3eCAS |
Snelson, F. S., Williams-Hooper, S. E., and Schmid, T. H. (1988). Reproduction and ecology of the Atlantic stingray, Dasyatis sabina, in Florida Coastal Lagoons. Copeia 1988, 729–739.
Stobutzki, I. C., Miller, M. J., Heales, D. S., and Brewer, D. T. (2002). Sustainability of elasmobranchs caught as bycatch in a tropical prawn (shrimp) trawl fishery. Fishery Bulletin 100, 800–821.
Sulikowski, J. A., Galuardi, B., Bubley, W., Furey, N. B., Driggers III, W. B., Ingram Jnr, G. W., and Tsang, P. C. W. (2010). Use of satellite tags to reveal the movements of spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 418, 249–254.
Thrush, S. F., Pridmore, R. D., Hewitt, J. E., and Cummings, V. J. (1991). Impact of ray feeding disturbances on sandflat macrobenthos: do communities dominated by polychaetes or shellfish respond differently? Marine Ecology Progress Series 69, 245–252.
Thrush, S. F., Pridmore, R. D., Hewitt, J. E., and Cummings, V. J. (1994). The importance of predators on a sandflat: interplay between seasonal changes in prey densities and predator effects. Marine Ecology Progress Series 107, 211–222.
VanBaricom, G. R. (1982). Experimental analyses of structural regulation in a marine sand community exposed to oceanic swell. Ecological Monographs 52, 283–305.
Vaudo, J. (2011). Habitat use and foraging ecology of a batoid community in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Ph.D. Thesis, Florida International University, Miami, FL.
Vaudo, J. J., and Heithaus, M. R. (2009). Spatiotemporal variability in a sandflat elasmobranch fauna in Shark Bay, Australia. Marine Biology 156, 2579–2590.
Vaudo, J. J., and Heithaus, M. R. (2011). Dietary niche overlap in a nearshore elasmobranch mesopredator community. Marine Ecology Progress Series 425, 247–260.
Vaudo, J. J., and Lowe, C. G. (2006). Movement patterns of the round stingray Urobatis halleri (Cooper) near a thermal outfall. Journal of Fish Biology 68, 1756–1766.
Wells, F. E., Rose, R. A., and Lang, S. (1985). An analysis of benthic marine invertebrate communities in subtidal seagrass and sand habitats in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 12, 47–56.
Wetherbee, B. M., Gruber, S. H., and Rose, R. A. (2007). Movement patterns of juvenile lemon sharks Negaprion brevisrostris within Atol das Rocas, Brazil: a nursery characterized by tidal extremes. Marine Ecology Progress Series 343, 283–293.
White, W. T., and McAuley, R. (2003). Glaucostegus typus. In ‘IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2’. Available at www.iucnredlist.org [Accessed 16 May 2012]
White, W. T., Platell, M. E., and Potter, I. C. (2004). Comparisons between the diets of four abundant species of elasmobranchs in a subtropical embayment: implications for resource partitioning. Marine Biology 144, 439–448.
Whitty, J. M., Morgan, D. L., Peverell, S. C., Thorburn, D. C., and Beatty, S. J. (2009). Ontogenetic depth partitioning by juvenile freshwater sawfish (Pristis microdon: Pristidae) in a riverine environment. Marine and Freshwater Research 60, 306–316.
Yahel, G., Yahel, R., Katz, T., Lazar, B., Herut, B., and Tunnicliffe, V. (2008). Fish activity: a major mechanism for sediment resuspension and organic matter remineralization in coastal marine sediments. Marine Ecology Progress Series 372, 195–209.
| 1:CAS:528:DC%2BD1MXitVyltrc%3D&md5=dcbb06b8c9f8178969216ce848d30339CAS |
