Population connectivity of pelagic megafauna in the Cuba-Mexico-United States triangle

The timing and extent of international crossings by billfishes, tunas, and sharks in the Cuba-Mexico-United States (U.S.) triangle was investigated using electronic tagging data from eight species that resulted in >22,000 tracking days. Transnational movements of these highly mobile marine predat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 1663
Main Authors: Rooker, Jay R., Dance, Michael A., Wells, R. J. David, Ajemian, Matthew J., Block, Barbara A., Castleton, Michael R., Drymon, J. Marcus, Falterman, Brett J., Franks, James S., Hammerschlag, Neil, Hendon, Jill M., Hoffmayer, Eric R., Kraus, Richard T., McKinney, Jennifer A., Secor, David H., Stunz, Gregory W., Walter, John F.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 07.02.2019
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:
631/158/2039
631/601/2722
9/10
Animal Migration - physiology
Animals
Continental shelves
Cuba
Ecosystem
Galeocerdo cuvier
Humanities and Social Sciences
International boundaries
Jurisdiction
Marine ecosystems
Megafauna
Mexico
multidisciplinary
Oceans and Seas
Perciformes - physiology
Population Dynamics
Predators
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sharks
Sharks - physiology
Species
Sphyrna lewini
Tagging
Territorial waters
Thunnus albacares
Thunnus thynnus
Transnationalism
Tuna - physiology
United States
Cuba
United States
Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
United States > US
ISSN:2045-2322, 2045-2322
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The timing and extent of international crossings by billfishes, tunas, and sharks in the Cuba-Mexico-United States (U.S.) triangle was investigated using electronic tagging data from eight species that resulted in >22,000 tracking days. Transnational movements of these highly mobile marine predators were pronounced with varying levels of bi- or tri-national population connectivity displayed by each species. Billfishes and tunas moved throughout the Gulf of Mexico and all species investigated (blue marlin, white marlin, Atlantic bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna) frequently crossed international boundaries and entered the territorial waters of Cuba and/or Mexico. Certain sharks (tiger shark, scalloped hammerhead) displayed prolonged periods of residency in U.S. waters with more limited displacements, while whale sharks and to a lesser degree shortfin mako moved through multiple jurisdictions. The spatial extent of associated movements was generally associated with their differential use of coastal and open ocean pelagic ecosystems. Species with the majority of daily positions in oceanic waters off the continental shelf showed the greatest tendency for transnational movements and typically traveled farther from initial tagging locations. Several species converged on a common seasonal movement pattern between territorial waters of the U.S. (summer) and Mexico (winter).
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
content type line 23
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-38144-8