scholarly journals Feeding ecology and habitat use of the giant manta ray Manta birostris at a key aggregation site off mainland Ecuador

Author(s):  
Katherine Burgess
PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e0153393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asia O. Armstrong ◽  
Amelia J. Armstrong ◽  
Fabrice R. A. Jaine ◽  
Lydie I. E. Couturier ◽  
Kym Fiora ◽  
...  

Coral Reefs ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. B. Clark ◽  
Y. P. Papastamatiou ◽  
C. G. Meyer

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 336 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. B. Burgess ◽  
M. Guerrero ◽  
A. J. Richardson ◽  
M. B. Bennett ◽  
A. D. Marshall

Stable isotope analysis of tissues with different turnover rates allows for a broader temporal view of a species’ feeding habits. Epidermal mucus is a rapid to medium turnover ‘tissue’ in teleost fish, but its use in elasmobranch dietary studies is unknown. In the present study, we conducted stable isotope analysis on mucus and muscle from the giant manta ray Manta birostris. Mucus δ13C values were depleted and closer to surface zooplankton δ13C values compared with muscle, whereas there was no significant difference in δ15N values between these two tissue types. Using diet tissue discrimination factors from the literature, there was no significant difference in the expected prey profile between muscle and epidermal mucus. However, a broader range in δ13C values of expected prey was shown for mucus compared with muscle. The results suggest that if M. birostris mucus is indicative of recent dietary intake, resource use during aggregative behaviour off Ecuador is broader, but with no obvious resource switching. The present study is the first example of using bulk stable isotope analysis to evaluate mucus to investigate feeding ecology in elasmobranchs. However, the time course for the change in mucus isotope signature still needs to be determined through controlled feeding studies in an aquarium setting.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydie I. E. Couturier ◽  
Fabrice R. A. Jaine ◽  
Tom Kashiwagi

We present the first photographic evidence of the presence of the giant manta ray Manta birostris in east Australian waters. Two individuals were photographed off Montague Island in New South Wales and off the north east coast of Tasmania, during summer 2012 and 2014, respectively. These sightings confirm previous unverified reports on the species occurrence and extending the range of M. birostris to 40ºS. We discuss these findings in the context of the species’ migratory ecology, the regional oceanography along the south eastern Australian coastline and local productivity events.


PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Hinojosa-Alvarez ◽  
Ryan P. Walter ◽  
Pindaro Diaz-Jaimes ◽  
Felipe Galván-Magaña ◽  
E. Misty Paig-Tran

We present genetic and morphometric support for a third, distinct, and recently diverged group of Manta ray that appears resident to the Yucatán coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Individuals of the genusMantafrom Isla Holbox are markedly different from the other described manta rays in their morphology, habitat preference, and genetic makeup. Herein referred to as the Yucatán Manta Ray, these individuals form two genetically distinct groups: (1) a group of mtDNA haplotypes divergent (0.78%) from the currently recognizedManta birostrisandM. alfredispecies, and (2) a group possessing mtDNA haplotypes ofM. birostrisand highly similar haplotypes. The latter suggests the potential for either introgressive hybridization between Yucatán Manta Rays andM. birostris, or the retention of ancestralM. birostrissignatures among Yucatán Manta Rays. Divergence of the genetically distinct Yucatán Manta Ray fromM. birostrisappears quite recent (<100,000 YBP) following fit to an Isolation-with-Migration model, with additional support for asymmetrical gene flow fromM. birostrisinto the Yucatán Manta Ray. Formal naming of the Yucatán Manta Ray cannot yet be assigned until an in-depth taxonomic study and further confirmation of the genetic identity of existing type specimens has been performed.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. e46170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice R. A. Jaine ◽  
Lydie I. E. Couturier ◽  
Scarla J. Weeks ◽  
Kathy A. Townsend ◽  
Michael B. Bennett ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Takaomi Arai ◽  
Razikin Amalina ◽  
Zainudin Bachok

AbstractFatty acid analysis was used to understand feeding ecology and habitat use of coral reef fishes in six families: Lutjanidae (Lutjanus lutjanus), Labridae (Thalassoma lunare), Nemipteridae (Scolopsis affinis, S. monogramma), Pomacentridae (Abudefduf bengalensis, A. sexfasciatus, A. viagiensis), Scaridae (Scarus quoyi, S. quoyi, S. rivulatus, S. ghobban) and Serrandae (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus, Cephalopholis cyanostigma, C. boenak) collected on the Bidong Island of the Malaysian South China Sea. The percentage of saturated fatty acids (ΣSAFA) ranged from 58.0% to 62.5%, with the highest values in fatty acids, the second highest percentage values were those of monounsaturated fatty acids (ΣMUFA) and they ranged from 25.7% to 38.9%, and the percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids (ΣPUFA) had the lowest values, i.e. from 2.7% to 13.2%. ΣMUFA and ΣPUFA were significantly different between families, while ΣSAFA did not differ. These results indicate diverse feeding ecology and habitat use during the fish life history in relation to physiological condition, sexual development, and recent feeding events in the coral reef habitats in the Malaysian South China Sea.


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