Site affinity of whitespotted eagle rays <scp><i>Aetobatus narinari</i></scp> assessed using photographic identification

Flowers, Kathryn I.; Henderson, Aaron C.; Lupton, J. L.; Chapman, Demian D.

doi:10.1111/jfb.13452

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The natural spot patterns of whitespotted eagle rays have been increasingly used as a noninvasive method to recognize individuals for population studies (Bassos‐Hull et al ., 2014; Cerutti‐Pereyra et al ., 2018; Corcoran & Gruber, 1999; Flowers et al ., 2017; González‐Ramos et al ., 2017). The photograph of the wounded individual allows observation of only part of the left pectoral fin.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Eye healing in a free‐ranging whitespotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) following shark‐inflicted bite injuries

Rangel

Viegas²,

Bettcher

et al. 2021

Journal of Fish Biology

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Here we provide the first photographic records of the eye healing of a free‐ranging whitespotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) following shark‐inflicted bite injuries on the cephalic region. The whitespotted eagle ray with fresh wounds on the cephalic region close to its right orbit, upper jaw and the anterior margin of its right pectoral fin was photographed on 19 July 2017 at the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago. Two subsequent photographs of the whitespotted eagle ray with a blind right eye were taken on 29 March 2018 and 18 April 2018. These records show the whitespotted eagle ray had the capacity to recover from the wounds, although they have led to the blindness of the eye. These findings also demonstrate this individual was able to survive for at least 9 months with a nonfunctional eye.

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Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Eye healing in a free‐ranging whitespotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) following shark‐inflicted bite injuries

Rangel

Viegas²,

Bettcher

et al. 2021

Journal of Fish Biology

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“…; DeGroot, 2018), and has a demonstrated genetic link between populations in Florida and Cuba (Sellas et al ., 2015). Despite its migratory potential, A. narinari is known to exhibit high levels of multiyear philopatry (Ajemian et al ., 2012; Bassos‐Hull et al ., 2014; Cerutti‐Pereyra et al ., 2018; DeGroot, 2018; Flowers et al ., 2017). As a benthopelagic mesopredator, like R. bonasus , A. narinari forms an important link between benthic and pelagic environments (Ajemian et al ., 2012; Serrano‐Flores et al ., 2019) and could play an important role in bioturbation (O'Shea et al ., 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First insights into the vertical habitat use of the whitespotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari revealed by pop‐up satellite archival tags

Brewster

Cahill

Burton

et al. 2020

Journal of Fish Biology

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The whitespotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari is a tropical to warm‐temperate benthopelagic batoid that ranges widely throughout the western Atlantic Ocean. Despite conservation concerns for the species, its vertical habitat use and diving behaviour remain unknown. Patterns and drivers in the depth distribution of A. narinari were investigated at two separate locations, the western North Atlantic (Islands of Bermuda) and the eastern Gulf of Mexico (Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A.). Between 2010 and 2014, seven pop‐up satellite archival tags were attached to A. narinari using three methods: a through‐tail suture, an external tail‐band and through‐wing attachment. Retention time ranged from 0 to 180 days, with tags attached via the through‐tail method retained longest. Tagged rays spent the majority of time (82.85 ± 12.17% S.D.) within the upper 10 m of the water column and, with one exception, no rays travelled deeper than ~26 m. One Bermuda ray recorded a maximum depth of 50.5 m, suggesting that these animals make excursions off the fore‐reef slope of the Bermuda Platform. Individuals occupied deeper depths (7.42 ± 3.99 m S.D.) during the day versus night (4.90 ± 2.89 m S.D.), which may be explained by foraging and/or predator avoidance. Each individual experienced a significant difference in depth and temperature distributions over the diel cycle. There was evidence that mean hourly depth was best described by location and individual variation using a generalized additive mixed model approach. This is the first study to compare depth distributions of A. narinari from different locations and describe the thermal habitat for this species. Our study highlights the importance of region in describing A. narinari depth use, which may be relevant when developing management plans, whilst demonstrating that diel patterns appear to hold across individuals.

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“…Photographic identification or “photo-ID” refers to a methodology whereby individual animals are identified and tracked using their unique natural patterns and/or other distinct features. It has been successfully used in a variety of marine species to learn more about wild populations, including many species of rays like manta rays (Marshall, Dudgeon & Bennett, 2011), skates (Benjamins et al, 2018), and eagle rays (González-Ramos et al, 2016; Flowers et al, 2017; Cerutti-Pereyra et al, 2018). Conventional tagging studies can be invasive, at times affecting natural behaviour and individual fitness (Manire & Gruber, 1991; Fouts & Nelson, 1999; Feldheim, Gruber & Ashley, 2002; Dicken, Booth & Smale, 2006; Wilson & McMahon, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spotting the “small eyes”: using photo-ID methodology to study a wild population of smalleye stingrays (Megatrygon microps) in southern Mozambique

Boggio-Pasqua

Flam

Marshall

2019

PeerJ

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Background The smalleye stingray (Megatrygon microps) is a large and rare dasyatid ray, patchily distributed across the Indo-West Pacific. Free-swimming individuals have regularly been recorded in Southern Mozambican coastal waters utilizing different inshore environments. Distinctive features of the species include latitudinal rows of white spots on the dorsal surface of their pectoral disc. Methods This study aimed to determine if the natural spot patterns on M. microps are sufficiently unique and stable to use in photo-identification studies of wild populations. Research dive logs were combined with opportunistic photographs from local dive centers and recreational divers to create a photographic database from the Inhambane Province coastline. Results Seventy different individuals were identified over a 15-year period, all exhibiting uniquely identifiable patterns. Stingrays were easily identifiable over a period of six years with multiple re-sightings of the same individuals recorded. Analysis of encounters across the Inhambane coastline revealed that individual rays regularly use inshore reefs along a 350 km stretch of coastline. Fifteen stingrays were re-sighted during the study period, including one showing a 400 km return movement between Tofo Beach and the Bazaruto Archipelago, which is the longest distance traveled by a dasyatid ray on record. Several presumably pregnant females have also been recorded in the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park.

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Site affinity of whitespotted eagle rays Aetobatus narinari assessed using photographic identification

Cited by 13 publications

References 45 publications

Eye healing in a free‐ranging whitespotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) following shark‐inflicted bite injuries

Eye healing in a free‐ranging whitespotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari) following shark‐inflicted bite injuries

First insights into the vertical habitat use of the whitespotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari revealed by pop‐up satellite archival tags

Spotting the “small eyes”: using photo-ID methodology to study a wild population of smalleye stingrays (Megatrygon microps) in southern Mozambique

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