When Giants Turn Up: Sighting Trends, Environmental Influences and Habitat Use of the Manta Ray Manta alfredi at a Coral Reef

PLoS ONE

Volumn 7, Issue 10, 2012, Pages

  Jaine, Fabrice R A ^a,b   Couturier, Lydie I E ^a,b   Weeks, Scarla J ^a   Townsend, Kathy A ^a   Bennett, Michael B ^a   Fiora, Kym ^c   Richardson, Anthony J ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND   (Australia)

^b CSIRO   (Australia)

^c Watersports Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR; ARTICLE; AUSTRALIA; AUTUMN; BIOPHYSICS; CLEANING; CORAL REEF; ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR; FOOD AVAILABILITY; FORAGING BEHAVIOR; HABITAT USE; ISLAND (GEOLOGICAL); MANTA ALFREDI; MARINE SPECIES; METEOROLOGY; MOON; NONHUMAN; OCEANOGRAPHY; PREDICTION; PRODUCTIVITY; VELOCITY; WIND; WINTER;

ALGORITHMS; ANIMALS; ANTHOZOA; AUSTRALIA; CORAL REEFS; ECOSYSTEM; ENVIRONMENT; FEEDING BEHAVIOR; GEOGRAPHY; HUMANS; MODELS, BIOLOGICAL; OCEANS AND SEAS; SEASONS; SKATES (FISH); TIME FACTORS; ZOOPLANKTON;

ANTHOZOA; MANTA ALFREDI; MOBULINAE;

EID: 84867095339     PISSN: None     EISSN: 19326203     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0046170     Document Type: Article

References (87)

1. Bonfil R, Meyer M, Scholl MC, Johnson R, O'Brien S, et al. (2005) Transoceanic migration, spatial dynamics, and population linkages of white sharks. Science 310: 100-103.
2. Skomal GB, Zeeman SI, Chisholm JH, Summers EL, Walsh HJ, et al. (2009) Transequatorial migrations by basking sharks in the Western Atlantic Ocean. Curr Biol 19: 1019-1022 doi:10.1016/j.cub.2009.04.019.
3. Hawkes LA, Broderick AC, Coyne MS, Godfrey MH, Godley BJ, (2007) Only some like it hot- quantifying the environmental niche of the loggerhead sea turtle. Divers Distrib 13: 447-457 doi:10.1111/j.1472-4642.2007.00354.x.
4. Pillans R (2006) The physiological ecology of the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas in the Brisbane River. PhD Thesis, School of Integrative Biology, The University of Queensland, Australia. Available: http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:158284.
5. Schofield G, Bishop CM, Katselidis KA, Dimopoulos P, Pantis JD, et al. (2009) Microhabitat selection by sea turtles in a dynamic thermal marine environment. J Anim Ecol 78: 14-21 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01454.x.
6. Heyman WD, Graham RT, Kjerfve B, Johannes RE, (2001) Whale sharks aggregate to feed on fish spawn in Belize. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 215: 275-282.
7. Zerbini AN, Andriolo A, Heide-Jørgensen MP, Pizzorno JL, Maia YG, et al. (2006) Satellite-monitored movements of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 313: 295-304.
8. O'Donoghue SH, Whittington PA, Dyer BM, Peddemors VM, (2010) Abundance and distribution of avian and marine mammal predators of sardine observed during the 2005 KwaZulu-Natal sardine run survey. Afr J of Mar Sci 32 (2):: 361-374 doi:10.2989/1814232X.2010.502640.
9. Ropert-Coudert Y, Wilson RP, (2005) Trends and perspectives in animal-attached remote sensing. Front Ecol Env 3 (8):: 437-444.
10. Hooker SK, Baird RW, (1999) Deep-diving behaviour of the northern bottlenose whale, Hyperoodon ampullatus (Cetacea: Ziphiidae). Proc Biol Sci 266 (1420):: 671-676 doi:10.1098/rspb.1999.0688.
11. Klimley AP, Le Boeuf BJ, Cantara KM, Richert JE, Davis SF, et al. (2001) Radio-acoustic positioning as a tool for studying site-specific behavior of the white shark and other large marine species. Mar Biol 138: 1-18.
12. Wilson RP, Shepard ELC, Liebsch N, (2007) Prying into the intimate details of animal lives: use of a daily diary on animals. Endanger Species Res 4: 123-137 doi:10.3354/esr00064.
13. Heupel MR, Semmens JM, Hobday AJ, (2006) Automated acoustic tracking of aquatic animals: scales, design and deployment of listening station arrays. Mar Freshw Res 57: 1-13 doi:10.1071/MF05091.
14. Couturier LIE, Jaine FRA, Townsend KA, Weeks SJ, Richardson AJ, et al. (2011) Distribution, site affinity and regional movements of the manta ray, Manta alfredi (Krefft, 1868), along the east coast of Australia. Mar Freshw Res 62: 628-637 doi:10.1071/MF10148.
15. Marshall AD, Pierce SJ, (2012) The use and abuse of photographic identification in sharks and rays. J Fish Biol 80 (5):: 1361-1379 doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2012.03244.x.
16. Sleeman JC, Meekan MG, Wilson SG, (2007) Biophysical correlates of relative abundances of marine megafauna at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. Mar Freshw Res 58: 608-623.
17. Sleeman JC, Meekan MG, Fitzpatrick BJ, Steinberg CR, Ancel R, et al. (2010) Oceanographic and atmospheric phenomena influence the abundance of whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 382: 77-81 doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2009.10.015.
18. Kohler NE, Turner PA, (2001) Shark tagging: a review of conventional method and studies. Environ Biol Fishes 60: 191-223.
19. Hays GC, Bradshaw CJA, James MC, Lovell P, Sims DW, (2007) Why do Argos satellite tags deployed on marine animals stop transmitting? J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 349: 52-60 doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2007.04.016.
20. Jaine FRA, Rohner CA, Couturier LIE, Bennett MB, Pierce SJ, et al. (in review) Understanding the movement ecology of Earth's largest fishes and the role of novel technologies. J Fish Biol.
21. Marshall AD, Compagno LJV, Bennett MB, (2009) Redescription of the genus Manta with resurrection of Manta alfredi (Krefft, 1868) (Chondrichtyes; Myliobatoidei; Mobulidae). Zootaxa 2031: 1-28.
22. Couturier LIE, Marshall AD, Jaine FRA, Kashiwagi T, Pierce SJ, et al. (2012) Biology, ecology and conservation of the Mobulidae. J Fish Biol 80: 1075-1119 doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2012.03264.x.
23. Dewar H, Mous P, Domeier M, Muljadi A, Pet J, et al. (2008) Movements and site fidelity of the giant manta ray, Manta birostris, in the Komodo marine park, Indonesia. Mar Biol 155: 121-133.
24. Anderson RC, Adam MS, (2011) From monsoons to mantas: seasonal distribution of Manta alfredi in the Maldives. Fish Oceano 20: 104-113.
25. Graham RT, Witt MJ, Castellanos DW, Remolina F, Maxwell S, et al. (2012) Satellite tracking of manta rays highlights challenges to their conservation. PLoS One 7: e36834 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036834.t001.
26. Papastamatiou YP, DeSalles PA, McCauley DJ, (2012) Area-restricted searching by manta rays and their response to spatial scale in lagoon habitats. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 456: 233-244 doi:10.3354/meps09721.
27. Hoegh-Guldberg O, (1999) Climate change, coral bleaching and the future of the world's coral reefs. Mar Freshw Res 50: 839-866.
28. Hoegh-Guldberg O, Mumby PJ, Hooten AJ, Steneck RS, Greenfield P, et al. (2007) Coral reefs under rapid climate change and ocean acidification. Science 318: 1737-1742 doi:10.1126/science.1152509.
29. Munday PL, Jones GP, Pratchett MS, Williams AJ, (2008) Climate change and the future for coral reef fishes. Fish Fish 9: 261-285.
30. Poloczanska ES, Hawkins SJ, Southward AJ, Burrows MT, (2008) Modeling the response of populations of competing species to climate change. Ecology 89: 3138-3149.
31. Richardson AJ, (2008) In hot water: zooplankton and climate change. ICES J Mar Sci 65: 279-295.
32. O'Shea OR, Kingsford MJ, Seymour J, (2010) Tide-related periodicity of manta rays and sharks to cleaning stations on a coral reef. Mar Freshw Res 61: 65-73.
33. Bonney R, Cooper CB, Dickinson J, Kelling S, Phillips T, et al. (2009) Citizen science: a developing tool for expanding science knowledge and scientific literacy. BioScience 59: 977-984 doi:10.1525/bio.2009.59.11.9.
34. Bhattacharjee Y, (2005) Citizen scientists supplement work of Cornell researchers. Science 308: 1402-1403 doi:10.1126/science.308.5727.1402.
35. Delaney DG, Sperling CD, Adams CS, Leung B, (2007) Marine invasive species: validation of citizen science and implications for national monitoring networks. Biol Invasions 10: 117-128 doi:10.1007/s10530-007-9114-0.
36. Goffredo S, Pensa F, Neri P, Orlandi A, Gagliardi MS, et al. (2010) Unite research with what citizens do for fun: "recreational monitoring" of marine biodiversity. Ecol Appl 20: 2170-2187.
37. Sims DW, (2003) Tractable models for testing theories about natural strategies: foraging behaviour and habitat selection of free-ranging sharks. J Fish Biol 63: 53-73 doi:10.1046/j.1095-8649.2003.00207.x.
38. Cotton PA, Sims DW, Fanshawe S, Chadwick M, (2005) The effects of climate variability on zooplankton and basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) relative abundance off southwest Britain. Fish Oceano 14: 151-155.
39. Taylor JG, Pearce AF, (1999) Ningaloo Reef currents: implications for coral spawn dispersal, zooplankton and whale shark abundance. J Roy Soc West Aust 82: 57-65.
40. Wilson SG, Taylor JG, Pearce AF, (2001) The seasonal aggregation of whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia: currents, migrations and the El Nino/Southern Oscillation. Environ Biol Fishes 61: 1-11.
41. Gyuris E, (1994) The rate of predation by fishes on hatchlings of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas). Coral Reefs 13: 137-144 doi:10.1007/BF00301189.
42. O'Dor RK, Adamo S, Aitken JP, Andrade Y, Finn J, et al. (2002) Currents as environmental constraints on the behaviour, energetics and distribution of squid and cuttlefish. Bull Mar Sci 71: 601-617.
43. Pressley PH, (1980) Lunar periodicity in the spawning of yellowtail damselfish, Microspathodon chrysurus. Environ Biol Fishes 5 (2):: 155-159.
44. Babcock RC, Bull GD, Harrison PL, Heyward AJ, Oliver JK, et al. (1986) Synchronous spawnings of 105 scleractinian coral species on the Great Barrier Reef. Mar Biol 90: 379-394.
45. O'Reilly JE, Maritorena S, O'Brien MC, Siegel DA, Toole D, et al. (2000) SeaWiFS postlaunch calibration and validation analyses- Part 3. NASA Tech Memo 2000-206892, Vol. 11. Hooker SB, Firestone ER, eds: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
46. Hutchinson GE (1967) A Treatise on Limnology- II. Introduction to Lake Biology and Limnoplankton. John Wiley & Sons, New York.
47. Aebischer NJ, Coulson JC, Colebrookl JM, (1990) Parallel long-term trends across four marine trophic levels and weather. Nature 347: 753-755 doi:10.1038/347753a0.
48. Flagg CN, Wirick CD, Smith SL, (1994) The interaction of phytoplankton, zooplankton and currents from 15 months of continuous data in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. Deep Sea Research Part 2 Top Stud Oceanogr 41 (2-3):: 411-435.
49. Roemmich D, McGowan J, (1995) Climatic warming and the decline of zooplankton in the California Current. Science 267: 1324-1326 doi:10.1126/science.267.5202.1324.
50. Richardson AJ, (2004) Climate impact on plankton ecosystems in the northeast Atlantic. Science 305: 1609-1612 doi:10.1126/science.1100958.
51. Plourde S, Runge JA, (1993) Reproduction of the planktonic copepod Calanus finmarchicus in the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary: relation to the cycle of phytoplankton production and evidence for a Calanus pump. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 102: 217-227.
52. Hastie T, Tibshirani R, (1987) Generalized additive models: some applications. J Am Stat Assoc 82 (398):: 371.
53. Hastie T, Tibshirani R (1990) Generalized additive models. Chapman & Hall, London.
54. Guisan A, Lehmann A, Ferrier S, (2006) Making better biogeographical predictions of species' distributions. J Appl Ecol 43 (3):: 386-392.
55. Hastie GD, Swift RJ, Slesser G, (2005) Environmental models for predicting oceanic dolphin habitat in the Northeast Atlantic. ICES J Mar Sci 62 (4):: 760-770.
56. Bigelow KA, Boggs CH, He X, (1999) Environmental effects on swordfish catch rates in the US North Pacific longline fishery. Fish Oceano 8: 178-198.
57. Walsh WA, Kleiber P, (2001) Generalized Additive model and regression tree analyses of blue shark catch rates by the Hawaii-based commercial longline fishery. Fish Res 53: 115-131.
58. Agenbag JJ, Richardson AJ, Demarcq H, (2003) Estimating environmental preferences of South African pelagic fish species using catch size-and remote sensing data. Prog Oceanogr 59: 275-300.
59. Friedlaender AS, Halpin PN, Qian SS, Lawson GL, (2006) Whale distribution in relation to prey abundance and oceanographic processes in shelf waters of the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 317: 297-310.
60. Panigada S, Zanardelli M, MacKenzie M, Donovan C, Mélin F, et al. (2008) Modelling habitat preferences for fin whales and striped dolphins in the Pelagos Sanctuary (Western Mediterranean Sea) with physiographic and remote sensing variables. Remote Sens Environ 112: 3400-3412 doi:10.1016/j.rse.2007.11.017.
61. Zaniewski AE, Lehmann A, Overton JMC, (2002) Predicting species spatial distributions using presence-only data: a case study of native New Zealand ferns. Ecol Modell 157 (2-3):: 261-280.
62. Ihaka R, Gentleman R, (1996) R: A language for data analysis and graphics. J Comp Graph Stat 5: 299-314.
63. Neyman J, Pearson ES, (1933) On the problem of the most efficient tests of statistical hypotheses. Phil Trans Roy Soc Lond A i 231: 289-337.
64. Wilks SS, (1938) The large-sample distribution of the likelihood ratio for testing composite hypotheses. Ann Math Stat 9 (1):: 60-62.
65. Marshall AD, Dudgeon CL, Bennett MB, (2011) Size and structure of a photographically identified population of manta rays Manta alfredi in southern Mozambique. Mar Biol 158: 1111-1124 doi:10.1007/s00227-011-1634-6.
66. Luiz OJ, Balboni AP, Kodja G, Andrade M, Marum H, (2009) Seasonal occurrences of Manta birsotris (Chondrichtyes: Mobulidae) in southeastern Brazil. Ichtyol Res 56: 96-99.
67. Choukroun S, Ridd PV, Brinkman R, Mckinna LIW, (2010) On the surface circulation in the western Coral Sea and residence times in the Great Barrier Reef. J Geophys Res 115: C06013 doi:10.1029/2009JC005761.
68. Weeks SJ, Bakun A, Steinberg CR, Brinkman R, Hoegh-Guldberg O, (2010) The Capricorn Eddy: a prominent driver of the ecology and future of the southern Great Barrier Reef. Coral Reefs pp. 1-15.
69. Griffin DA, Middleton JH, Bode L, (1987) The Tidal and longer-period circulation of Capricornia, Southern Great Barrier Reef. Aust J Mar Freshw Res 38: 461-474.
70. Kleypas JA, Burrage DM, (1994) Satellite observations of circulation in the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Inter J Remote Sens 15: 2051-2063.
71. Burrage DM, Steinberg CR, Skirving WJ, Kleypas JA, (1996) Mesoscale circulation features of the Great Barrier Reef region inferred from NOAA satellite imagery. Remote Sens Environ 56: 21-41.
72. Andrews JC, Gentien P, (1982) Upwelling as a Source of Nutrients for the Great Barrier Reef Ecosystems: A Solution to Darwin's Question?. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 8: 257-269.
73. Atkinson LP, Paffenhofer GA, Dunstan WM, (1978) The chemical and biological effect of a Gulf Stream intrusion off St. Augustine, Florida. Bull Mar Sci 28: 667-679.
74. Marshall AD (2009) Biology and population ecology of Manta birostris in southern Mozambique. PhD Thesis, The University of Queensland, Australia. Available: http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:160974.
75. Homma K, Maruyama T, Itoh T, Ishihara H, Uchida S, (1999) Biology of the manta ray, Manta birostris Walbaum, in the Indo-Pacific. 5th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference pp. 209-216.
76. Marshall AD, Bennett MB, (2010) The frequency and effect of shark-inflicted bite injuries to the reef manta ray Manta alfredi. Afr J Mar Sci 32: 573-580 doi:10.2989/1814232X.2010.538152.
77. Clark TB (2010) Abundance, home range, and movement patterns of manta rays (Manta alfredi, M. birostris) in Hawai'i. PhD Thesis, University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
78. Ackerman JT, Kondratieff MC, Matern SA, Cech JJ Jr, (2000) Tidal influence on spatial dynamics of leopard sharks, Triakis semifasciata, in Tomales Bay, California. Environ Biol Fishes 58: 33-43.
79. Recher HF, Recher JA, (1972) The foraging behaviour of the Reef Heron. Emu 72: 85-90.
80. Samoilys MA, (1997) Periodicity of spawning aggregations of coral trout Plectropomus leopardus (Pisces: Serranidae) on the northern Great Barrier Reef. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 160: 149-159.
81. Andrews JC, Clegg S, (1989) Coral Sea circulation and transport deduced from modal information models. Deep Sea Res 36: 957-974.
82. Wolanski E (1994) Physical oceanographic processes of the Great Barrier Reef. CRC Press, Marine Science Series, Boca Raton, Florida.
83. Hamner WH, Hauri JR, (1977) Fine-scale currents in the Whitsunday Islands, Queensland, Australia: effect of tide and topography. Aus J Mar Freshw Res 28: 333-359.
84. Hamner WM, Hauri IR, (1981) Effects of island mass: water flow and plankton pattern around a reef in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon, Australia. Limnol Oceanogr 26: 1984-1102.
85. Carleton J, Brinkman R, Doherty PJ, (2001) Zooplankton community structure and water flow in the lee of Helix Reef (Great Barrier Reef, Australia). Mar Biol 139: 705-717 doi:10.1007/s002270100611.
86. Marshall A, Kashiwagi T, Bennett MB, Deakos M, Stevens G et al. (2011) Manta alfredi. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on 01 March 2012.
87. White WT, Giles J, Dharmadi, Potter IC, (2006) Data on the bycatch fishery and reproductive biology of mobulid rays (Myliobatiformes) in Indonesia. Fish Res 82: 65-73 doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2006.08.008.