The NOAA IR serves as an archival repository of NOAA-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other information authored or co-authored by NOAA or funded partners.
As a repository, the NOAA IR retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.
i
Sex biased individual variation in movement patterns of a highly mobile, near‐shore marine planktivore, the reef manta ray Mobula alfredi
-
2019
-
-
Source: Journal of Fish Biology, 95(6), 1399-1406
Details:
-
Journal Title:Journal of Fish Biology
-
Personal Author:
-
NOAA Program & Office:
-
Description:We examined individual variation and the role of sex on the movements of the reef manta ray Mobula alfredi. Specifically, we analysed several movement metrics using 6 years of nightly observations (1 January 2009–31 December 2014) of 118 individually identifiable manta rays at two discrete but spatially proximate sites, locally known as Manta Heaven and Manta Village, 15 km apart on the west side of the island of Hawaii, USA. Males were slightly more often (33.5%, model fitted mean, P < 0.05) observed than females at Manta Heaven, but females were much more often (156.4%, model fitted mean, P < 0.05) observed at Manta Village. Movement patterns among individuals varied greatly, but the level of variation was similar between sexes. Some animals, mainly females, displayed more resident patterns, whereas other, more mobile, animals moved between sites more frequently and had longer gaps between sightings. We did not detect discrete behavioural groups; rather, individuals varied along a continuous spectrum from many observations and high affinity to few observations and low fidelity to survey locations. These complex and variable movement patterns observed at the individual level, between sexes and between two nearby sites, in Hawaii's manta rays highlight the need for finer scale considerations in conservation and management of highly mobile marine populations.
-
Keywords:
-
Source:Journal of Fish Biology, 95(6), 1399-1406
-
DOI:
-
ISSN:0022-1112;1095-8649;
-
Format:
-
Publisher:
-
Document Type:
-
Rights Information:Accepted Manuscript
-
Compliance:Library
-
Main Document Checksum:
-
Download URL:
-
File Type: