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Habitat-specific feeding by cownose rays (Rhinoptera bonasus) of the northern Gulf of Mexico

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Abstract

Past studies have suggested that increases in cownose ray (Rhinoptera bonasus) abundance may pose problems for fisheries management due to their specialized diet of exploitable mollusks. However, more recent work has identified cownose rays as opportunistic generalists, consuming mainly non-commercial prey (e.g. soft-bodied invertebrates) most abundant in their locale. To better assess the generalist vs. specialist foraging behaviors of cownose rays, including their impact to commercial shellfish of the north-central Gulf of Mexico, we conducted gut content analysis on 201 individuals from coastal Alabama. Prey items were analyzed for frequency of occurrence and percent composition by weight, which were used to develop an index of importance. Our diet analysis indicated a minimal impact of cownose rays to exploitable shellfish species of coastal Alabama. Further, we observed important spatial and ontogenetic diet variability: adult diets were dominated by crustaceans along barrier islands and open waters of the Gulf of Mexico, whereas juvenile and young-of-the-year individuals almost exclusively consumed bivalves in riverine and estuarine areas. Individual cownose ray diets were primarily monotypic (54.3%) and appeared selective for amphipods (i.e. Haustorius sp.) when hyperabundant along gulf barrier islands and bivalves at estuarine sites regardless of ambient densities. While this study highlights the importance of locality in determining dietary composition of cownose rays, we do not suggest this species is opportunistic or completely mollusk-specialized. Alternatively, we propose cownose rays exhibit a continuum of foraging behaviors between specialization and generalization, depending on locale and prey availability.

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Acknowledgements

This study would have been impossible without the tremendous field support of various students, interns and technicians of the Fisheries Ecology Lab and multiple volunteers and staff at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. S. Bosarge provided invaluable assistance with benthic invertebrate identification from gut samples. Benthic core data from Point aux Pins was provided by the Marine Ecology Lab at DISL, and offshore core data was provided by the Fisheries Oceanography of Coastal Alabama (FOCAL) program. Benthic trawl data were generously supplied by the Alabama Marine Resources Division, in particular J. Mareska. Some of the equipment and collection gear (e.g. gillnets) was provided by NOAA Panama City Lab. Graduate Fellowship support to MJA was provided by the University of South Alabama department of marine sciences, the Northern Gulf Institute, and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. We are indebted to advisory members K.L Heck, Jr, J. Valentine, M.R. Heithaus and P.J. Motta for their valuable comments and input. This is contribution No. 402 from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.

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Correspondence to Matthew Joseph Ajemian.

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Ajemian, M.J., Powers, S.P. Habitat-specific feeding by cownose rays (Rhinoptera bonasus) of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Environ Biol Fish 95, 79–97 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-011-9858-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-011-9858-3

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