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To roam or to home: site fidelity in a tropical coastal shark

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Abstract

Understanding patterns in site fidelity is important for defining the ecological role of species in the systems they use and for gauging the effects of human impacts on their populations. We analyzed long-term movement data of adult spottail sharks (Carcharhinus sorrah) in Cleveland Bay, Australia, to define the degree of site fidelity this species shows to coastal areas. Individuals were monitored in the study site for 28–566 days, and residency index (i.e., proportion of days present to total monitoring period) ranged from 0.08 to 0.95. Using a randomization procedure, we determined that the movement paths for 90 % of individuals (11 female and 7 male) were more constrained than random, with individuals exhibiting a high degree of site fidelity to consistent areas within the study site. Examining distances moved revealed that individuals used the same areas repeatedly and remained in close proximity (i.e., <6 km) to their location of first detection. While some individuals consistently used and returned back to the same locations, low residency among others suggests that a portion of the population may roam more widely. Long-term site fidelity to consistent areas may be a successful behavioral strategy for C. sorrah by increasing individual fitness through spatial familiarity and knowledge of resources.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the staff and students of the Fishing and Fisheries Research Centre including A. Tobin, C. Awruch, A. Mapleston, A. Harry, J. White, A. Chin, O. Li and numerous other volunteers for helping with this project. We also gratefully acknowledge J. Moloney for providing assistance with data analyses. Funding for this research was provided by the Australian Research Council and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) awarded to M. R. Heupel and C. A. Simpfendorfer. Additional funding was awarded to D. M. Knip from the GBRMPA and James Cook University (JCU) School of Earth and Environmental Sciences (SEES). D. M. Knip was also supported by a JCU Postgraduate Research Scholarship co-funded by the SEES. D. M. Knip thanks and acknowledges the American Elasmobranch Society for providing funding to attend their 2010 meeting to present the results of this work. All research activities were conducted under GBRMPA Permit #G10/33315.1 and Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Permit #90911. Treatment of all animals was conducted under ethical guidelines approved by JCU animal ethics committee (ethics approval #A1566).

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  1. Danielle M. Knip

    Present address: Sea Around Us Project, Fisheries Centre, The University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fishing and Fisheries Research Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Danielle M. Knip & Colin A. Simpfendorfer

  2. Australian Institute of Marine Science and James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Michelle R. Heupel

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  1. Danielle M. Knip
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  2. Michelle R. Heupel
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Correspondence to Danielle M. Knip.

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Communicated by J. D. R. Houghton.

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Knip, D.M., Heupel, M.R. & Simpfendorfer, C.A. To roam or to home: site fidelity in a tropical coastal shark. Mar Biol 159, 1647–1657 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-1950-5

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