Entre 2011 et avril 2017, La Réunion a connu 22 attaques de requin, dont 9 mortelles. Cette intensification des Conflits Hommes-Requins (CHR) à La Réunion a donné naissance au programme de recherche, CHARC, dont le but est de mieux comprendre la biologie et l'écologie des requins bouledogue (Carcharhinus leucas). C'est dans ce contexte et au sein de ce programme que s'est réalisé ce projet de thèse. Représentant la première étude de ce type sur cette espèce, l'objectif principal de la thèse a été de déterminer les caractéristiques et les particularités de la population observée, de délimiter son habitat et ses micro-habitats, d'en étudier son occupation spatiale et temporelle et de comprendre le rôle de ces micro-habitats dans le cycle de vie de l'espèce. Pour atteindre ces objectifs, l'étude repose sur une campagne de marquage et le suivi acoustique passif des 35 requins bouledogue le long de la côte ouest pendant 18 mois. La quasi-totalité des requins marqués sont des adultes de grande taille, avec un sex-ratio en faveur des femelles. De part ces caractéristiques, cette population de requins bouledogue se distingue de la majorité des autres populations observées à travers le monde.L'occupation spatiale et temporelle des requins n'était pas homogène, avec l'utilisation de zones préférentielles et une forte saisonnalité. On observe également une variabilité individuelle, influencée par la taille et le sexe des individus : les jeunes adultes, des deux sexes, sont essentiellement localisés dans le sud de la zone, au cours de deux pics de présence, un hivernal et un estival. A l'inverse, les grandes femelles sont majoritairement localisées dans le nord de la zone, avec un pic de présence hivernal. Les grands mâles sont peu présents et essentiellement localisés dans le nord et à l'extrémité sud de la zone d’étude au cours de la période creuse de juillet à octobre. Indépendamment du sexe et de la taille des individus, les zones préférentielles sont utilisées comme zone de repos sur l'ensemble des périodes nycthémérale et comme zone de chasse nocturne. Certaines zones préférentielles pourraient également jouer un rôle dans la reproduction. Les zones secondaires représentent principalement des zones de passages entre les zones préférentielles ou des zones de chasse nocturne secondaire. Si l'ensemble de ces résultats devra être confirmé par d'autres études à plus grande échelle spatio-temporelle, il montre toute la complexité du comportement et des déplacements des requins bouledogue dans les eaux réunionnaises. Cette thèse ouvre de nouvelles perspectives d'étude, notamment sur l'influence des facteurs environnementaux dans l'occupation spatio-temporelle des requins ou sur l'existence de phénomènes liés à la reproduction comme la philopatrie et la polyandrie. / A serie of 22 shark attacks occurred at Reunion Island between 2011 and April 2017, causing nine deaths. Following the rise of the Human Shark Conflict (HSC), a research program, CHARC, was launched to better understand the biology and ecology of bullshark (Carcharhinus leucas). This thesis was carried out within this program. Representing the firststudy on this specie at Reunion Island, the main objective was to determine characteristics of the observed population, to define it habitat and its micro-habitats, to study its spatial and temporal occupation and to understand the role of these micro-habitats in the life cycle of the specie. This study is based on a tagging campaign and passive acoustic telemetry of 35 bullsharks along the west coast for 18 months. Almost all tagged sharks are adults, large in size and with a sex ratio in favor of females. Base of these characteristics, this bullshark population differs from the majority of other observed populations throughout the world. The spatial and temporal occupation was not homogeneous, with use of preferential areas and strong seasonality. Individual variability is also observed, influenced by size and sex: young adults, of both sexes, are mainly located in the southern part of the study area, during two peaks of presence, one in winter and one in summer. Conversely, large females are mostly located in the north of study area, with a peak of presence in winter. Large males are rarely present and mostly located at the ends of the north and south of the study area from July to October. Apart from sex and size of individuals, preferential areas are used as resting areas, during all nycthemeral periods and as hunting area at night. Some preferential areas may also play a role in breeding behaviour. The secondary areas are mainly used to move from a preferential area to another or as secondary hunting area at night. If all these results have to be confirmed by larger-scale spatio-temporal studies, it put in light the complexity of bullshark behavior and movements along the coasts of Reunion Island. This thesis gives perspectives for new studies, including studies on environmental factors influence on spatio-temporal occupation of sharks or on phenomena related to reproduction such as philopatry and polyandry.

This study explored spatiotemporal patterns in movement, diet, and baseline phycotoxin concentrations in immature bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) of the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), an estuary of national significance that has been considerably impacted by multiple toxic harmful algal blooms (HABs). Long-term spatial use of the system was assessed for 29 acoustically tagged sharks over a 4 year period (2017–2020). Tissue samples for diet and toxin analysis were collected from a separate cohort of 50 individuals between 2018 and 2020. UPLC-MS/MS was used to screen tissues for 14 algal toxins. Young bull sharks were found to be mainly piscivorous and displayed high residency to the IRL as well as to specific regions of the IRL, with small activity spaces. Multiple phycotoxins were detected in screened tissues, indicating that young bull sharks in the IRL may be compromised by trophic transfer of HABs while they reside in this important nursery. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Molecular tools, such as sequencing of the mitochondrial DNA Control Region (CR) and genotyping of highly variable nuclear microsatellites were applied to survey the genetic diversity, population structure and phylogeography of three shark species: the whale shark, Rhincodon typus; the bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas; and the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum. The highly migratory and pelagic whale shark exhibited the largest length variation yet reported for an elasmobranch CR (1143–1332 bp), and high haplotype (h = 0.974 ± 0.008) and nucleotide diversities(π = 0.011 ± 0.006). No geographical clustering of lineages was observed and the most common haplotype was distributed globally. The haplotype frequency, however, differed between the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific populations(AMOVA, ΦST = 0.107, P < 0.001). For the bull shark, both mtDNA CR and five microsatellite loci were surveyed for animals from the Gulf of Mexico, the East coast of Florida and the Brazilian coast. Strong genetic structure was observed between theBrazilian and all northern populations for the CR (ΦST > 0.8, P < 0.001), but not for the nuclear microsatellite. The results here presented are congruent with restricted maternal gene flow between populations as a consequence of female nursery site fidelity. The philopatric tendencies as well as the relatively low levels of genetic diversity raises concerns about the conservation of this species. Finally, for the western Atlantic nurse sharks the genetic diversity estimated in a 1,166 bp fragment of the mtDNA comprising partial cytochrome b, tRNAPro, tRNAThr, and partial CR was the second smallest ever recorded for sharks (h = 0.45 ± 0.04; π = 0.0004 ± 0.0004). The data indicated moderate but significant genetic structure with the mtDNA marker (ΦST = 0.22, P<0.05) and no substantial structure in eight microsatellite loci analyzed. A population bottleneck as recent as the lower Pleistocene might have eroded the nurse shark genetic diversity and also contributed to its relatively lower population structure. The data also indicated that dispersal rather than vicariance better explains the Atlantic distribution of nurse shark, and that the Pacific nurse shark might be a cryptic sister species to Ginglymostoma cirratum.