Elasmobranchs play ecologically important roles in coastal environments.
Unfortunately, the basic distribution and movement patterns of these species, particularly
rays, remain relatively unknown. This is especially true for the Whitespotted Eagle Ray
(Aetobatus narinari), a protected species in Florida with poorly described migratory and
habitat use patterns. I employed a combination of acoustic telemetry techniques to reveal
multi-scale spatial patterns of A. narinari around Florida. Movement patterns between the
east and west coast individuals were distinct; a majority of west coast tagged A. narinari
exhibited migratory or transient behavior while most east coast tagged individuals
remained resident in the Indian River Lagoon. Fine-scale tracking of A. narinari revealed
individuals spent a large percentage of time in the inlets and channels and frequently
reused habitats parallel to the shore. This study fills a knowledge gap on the species
ecology which may be used for adaptive management strategies throughout A. narinari’s
range. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_40917 |
| Contributors | DeGroot, Breanna Clarice (author), Ajemian, Matthew (Thesis advisor), Florida Atlantic University (Degree grantor), Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences |
| Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
| Source Sets | Florida Atlantic University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 124 p., application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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