Document Type
Article
Publication Title
ICES Journal of Marine Science
Publication Date
7-1-2021
Volume
78
Issue
3
First Page
867
Last Page
883
Keywords
billfish, biologging, electronic tag, pelagic ecology, PSAT, tuna, vertical behaviour
DOI
10.1093/icesjms/fsaa222
ISSN
10543139
Abstract
Quantifying vertical distributions of pelagic predators elucidates pelagic ecosystem structure and informs fisheries management. In the tropical South Atlantic Ocean, the recently designated large-scale marine protected area around Ascension Island hosts diverse pelagic predators for which basin-specific vertical habitat information is minimal or absent. We used pop-up satellite archival tags to analyse vertical habitat use in 12 species (bigeye tuna Thunnus obesus, blue marlin Makaira nigricans, blue shark Prionace glauca, dolphinfish Coryphaena hippurus, Galapagos shark Carcharhinus galapagensis, oceanic whitetip Carcharhinus longimanus, sailfish Istiophorus albicans, silky shark Carcharhinus falciformis, swordfish Xiphias gladius, tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier, wahoo Acanthocybium solandri, and yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares) and quantify parameters (temperature, dissolved oxygen, diel cycles, lunar phase) known to constrain vertical movements. Predator depth distributions varied widely, and classification trees grouped predators into four clades: (i) primarily epipelagic; (ii) partial thermocline use; (iii) oscillatory diving with thermocline/sub-thermocline use; and (iv) extensive use of sub-thermocline waters. Vertical habitat differences were linked to thermal physiology and foraging ecology, and species-specific physical constraints from other ocean basins were largely conserved in the South Atlantic. Water column features defined species-specific depth distributions, which can inform fisheries practices and bycatch risk assessments and population estimates.
E-ISSN
10959289
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Madigan, Daniel J.; Richardson, Andrew J.; Carlisle, Aaron B.; Weber, Sam B.; Brown, Judith; and Hussey, Nigel E.. (2021). Water column structure defines vertical habitat of twelve pelagic predators in the South Atlantic. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 78 (3), 867-883.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ibiopub/202