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Life history and seasonal occurrence of the spotted eagle ray, Aetobatus narinari, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico

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Abstract

The spotted eagle ray, Aetobatus narinari, is listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Near Threatened with a decreasing population trend, but many aspects of this ray’s biology and population status are unknown. Aerial and on-water surveys were conducted in the eastern Gulf of Mexico off southwest Florida 2008–2013, to document seasonal occurrence and life history characteristics of this species. Aerial surveys documented spotted eagle rays mostly in spring, summer, and autumn months with larger aggregations observed near inlet passes. Boat-based surveys documented rays on 152 out of 176 survey days, mostly as solitary individuals but sometimes in aggregations of up to 60. More rays were observed when water temperatures were 23-31 ºC. A total of 393 rays (231 males, 161 females, 1 unrecorded sex) were captured, measured, sampled, tagged, and released. Sizes ranged 41.4–203.0 cm disc width (DW) and weight 1.1–105.5 kg. Male size at 50 % maturity was 127 cm DW. Five percent (19) of tagged rays were recaptured after 5–1,293 days at liberty and recaptured rays exhibited faster growth than previously estimated from vertebral readings. Based on observations of rays relative to survey effort, numbers of observed rays declined after 2009 for reasons not yet understood. This observation, together with concerns about sustainability of fisheries targeting these rays in nearby Mexico and Cuba, underscore the need for investigations into stock structure, population trends, growth, and critical habitat of spotted eagle rays throughout the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and elsewhere in their range.

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Acknowledgments

Our gratitude is extended to the Spotted Eagle Ray Conservation Program team of Mote staff, interns and collaborators, especially Capts. Greg Byrd and Charles (Chuck) Jelicks, Adam Lytton, Anna Sellas, Jen Newby, and Ashley Ross. We thank Jim Culter for his help with habitat and molluscan diversity in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Henry Luciano for environmental temperature data. We also thank John Tyminski, Rachel Dryer and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and constructive suggestions for improving the manuscript. We are grateful to William E. Pine III, University of Florida, for reviewing our methods and results for catch-per-unit-effort data and offering suggestions for graphic display of such data. Funding and in-kind support for this project were provided by the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Georgia Aquarium, Disney Worldwide Conservation Foundation, Save Our Seas Foundation, Mote Scientific Foundation, LightHawk, PADI Foundation, and anonymous donors. This study was conducted in accordance with Florida state laws and regulations for work on protected marine species (FWC SAL-13-1140-SRP) and IACUC protocols approved by Mote Marine Laboratory (Approval #13-02-PH1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Center for Shark Research, Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL, 34236, USA

    Kim Bassos-Hull, Krystan A. Wilkinson, Peter T. Hull, Dean A. Dougherty, John J. Morris & Robert E. Hueter

  2. Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, 110 Newins-Ziegler Hall, PO Box 110430, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Krystan A. Wilkinson

  3. Chicago Zoological Society, c/o Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL, 34236, USA

    Kim Bassos-Hull & Krystan A. Wilkinson

  4. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary, P.O. Box 1346, Gloucester Point, VA, 23062, USA

    Kristen L. Omori & Lisa E. Ailloud

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  1. Kim Bassos-Hull
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Correspondence to Kim Bassos-Hull.

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Bassos-Hull, K., Wilkinson, K.A., Hull, P.T. et al. Life history and seasonal occurrence of the spotted eagle ray, Aetobatus narinari, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Environ Biol Fish 97, 1039–1056 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-014-0294-z

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