Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Using acoustic telemetry to assess patterns in the seasonal residency of the Atlantic stingray Dasyatis sabina

  • Published:
Environmental Biology of Fishes Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Atlantic stingray Dasyatis sabina is found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. It consumes commercially important shrimp and crabs, and its diet overlaps with recreationally valuable red drum Sciaenops ocellatus and pompano Trachinotus spp. Despite the potential economic impact of this species, it is unclear whether the Atlantic stingray is present year-round or only seasonally in coastal habitats. The objective of this study was to assess the seasonal residency patterns of Atlantic stingrays in two creek systems in the Savannah River estuary. Forty stingrays were tracked using acoustic telemetry, and a seasonal residence index was calculated for each individual. Atlantic stingrays were present year-round in the Savannah River estuary, as 15 % (n = 6) of the tagged rays remained in the study areas throughout the year. This is the northernmost region where this species has been documented to be present all year. Of the 85 % (n = 34) of the rays that migrated during winter, 38 % (n = 13) of those were detected within the estuary less than 20 km away. Had trawls or mark-recapture been used instead, the few animals remaining in the creek systems and/or those that migrated may not have been collected. Acoustic telemetry is a more accurate means of studying the residency of fishes than periodic sampling that requires capture, and researchers should consider incorporating this technology in future studies about fish-environment interactions. Underestimating the presence of a species could result in miscalculation of its economic and ecological impact and, by extension, result in the implementation of ineffective or even detrimental management strategies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Blonder BI, Alevizon WS (1988) Prey discrimination and electroreception in the stingray Dasyatis sabina. Copeia 1988:33–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brinton CP (2015) Tidal and diel movement patterns of the Atlantic stingray Dasyatis sabina in two creek systems near Savannah, Georgia. Thesis, Savannah State University

  • Campbell HA, Hewitt M, Watts ME, Peverell S, Franklin CE (2012) Short- and long-term movement patterns in the freshwater whipray (Himantura dalyensis) determined by the signal processing of passive acoustic telemetry data. Mar Freshw Res 63:341–350

  • Cook DA (1994) Temporal patterns of food habits of the Atlantic stingray, Dasyatis sabina (Lesueur, 1824) from the Banana River Lagoon, Florida. Thesis, Florida Institute of Technology

  • Corcoran MJ, Wetherbee BM, Shivji MS, Potenski MD, Chapman DD, Harvey GM (2013) Supplemental feeding for ecotourism reverses diel activity and alters movement patterns and spatial distribution of the southern stingray, Dasyatis americana. PLoS One 8:e59235

  • Cotton CF (2010) Factors affecting reception range of ultrasonic tags in a Georgia estuary. Mar Technol Soc J 44:17–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cross RE, Curran MC (2000) Effects of feeding pit formation by rays on an intertidal meiobenthic community. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 51:293–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cross RE, Curran MC (2004) Recovery of meiofauna in intertidal feedings pits created by rays. Southeast Nat 3:219–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlberg MD (1975) Guide to coastal fishes of Georgia and nearby states. Athens

  • Davy LE, Simpfendorfer CA, Heupel MR (2015) Movement patterns and habitat use of juvenile mangrove whiprays (Himantura granulata). Mar Freshw Res 66:481–492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ebanks DA (2005) The influence of physical factors and ray bioturbation on meiofaunal abundance in Chowan Creek, South Carolina. Thesis, Savannah State University

  • Fangue NA, Bennett WA (2003) Thermal tolerance responses of laboratory-acclimated and seasonally acclimatized Atlantic stingray, Dasyatis sabina. Copeia 2003:315–325

  • Funicelli NA (1975) Taxonomy, feeding, limiting factors, and sex ratios of Dasyatis sabina, Dasyatis americana, Dasyatis sayi, and Narcine brasiliensis. Dissertation, University of Southern Mississippi

  • Gaspar C, Chateau O, Galzin R (2008) Feeding sites frequentation by the pink whipray Himantura fai in Moorea (French Polynesia) as determined by acoustic telemetry. Cybium 32:153–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Henningsen AD (1994) Tonic immobility in 12 elasmobranchs: use as an aid in captive husbandry. Zoo Biol 13:325–332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heupel MR, Semmens JM, Hobday AJ (2006) Automated acoustic tracking of aquatic animals: scales, design and deployment of listening arrays. Mar Freshw Res 57:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmayer ER, Parsons GR (2003) Food habits of three shark species from the Mississippi Sound in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Southeast Nat 2:271–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howard JD, Mayou TV, Heard, RW (1977) Biogenic sedimentary structures formed by rays. J Sediment Petrol 47:339–346

  • Hunter E, Buckley AA, Stewart C, Metcalfe JD (2005) Migratory behaviour of the thornback ray, Raja clavata, in the southern North Sea. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 85:1095–1105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hussey NE, Kessel ST, Aarestrup K, Cooke SJ, Cowley PD, Fisk AT, Harcourt RG, Holland KN, Iverson SJ, Kocik JF, Mills Flemming JE, Whoriskey FG (2015) Aquatic animal telemetry: a panoramic window into the underwater world. Science 348:1255642

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson MR, Snelson FF (1996) Reproductive life history of the Atlantic stingray, Dasyatis sabina (Pisces, Dasyatidae), in the freshwater St. Johns River, Florida. B Mar Sci 59:74–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Kells V, Carpenter K (2011) A field guide to coastal fishes from Maine to Texas. Baltimore

  • Le Port A, Sippel T, Montgomery J (2008) Observations of mesoscale movements of the short-tailed stingray, Dasyatis brevicaudata from New Zealand using a novel PSAT tag attachment method. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 359:110–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis TC (1982) The reproductive anatomy, seasonal cycles, and development of the Atlantic stingray, Dasyatis sabina (Lesueur) (Pisces, Dasyatidae) from the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Dissertation, Florida State University

  • Livingston RJ (1976) Diurnal and seasonal fluctuations of organisms in a north Florida estuary. Estuar Coast Mar Sci 4:373–400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathies NH, Ogburn MB, McFall G, Fangman S (2014) Environmental interference factors affecting detection range in acoustic telemetry studies using fixed receiver arrays. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 495:27–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McQuinn IH, Nellis P (2007) An acoustic trawl survey of middle St. Lawrence estuary demersal fishes to investigate the effects of dredged sediment disposal on Atlantic sturgeon and lake sturgeon distribution. Am Fish Soc Symp 56:257–271

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogburn MV, Allen DM, Michener WK (1988) Fishes, shrimps, and crabs of the North Inlet estuary, SC: a four-year seine and trawl survey. University of South Carolina Baruch Institute Technical Report 88:1–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Ragotzkie RA, Bryson RA (1955) Hydrography of the Duplin River, Sapelo Island, Georgia. B Mar Sci Gulf Caribbean 5:297–314

  • Ramsden S (2015) Seasonal patterns in residency and distribution of the Atlantic stingray Dasyatis sabina in two creek systems near Savannah, Georgia. Thesis, Savannah State University

  • Reidenauer JA, Thistle D (1981) Response of a soft bottom harpacticoid community to stingray (Dasyatis sabina) disturbance. Mar Biol 65:261–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberger LJ (2001) Pectoral motion in batoid fishes: undulation versus oscillation. J Exp Biol 204:379–394

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sage MR, Jackson RG, Klesch WL, de Vlaming VL (1972) Growth and seasonal distribution of the elasmobranch Dasyatis sabina. Contrib Mar Sci 16:71–74

    Google Scholar 

  • SAS software version 9.3 (2012) SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA

  • Schmid TH (1988) Age, growth, and movement patterns of the Atlantic stingray Dasyatis sabina in a Florida coastal lagoon system. Thesis, University of Central Florida

  • Schwartz FJ (2000) Elasmobranchs of the Cape Fear River, North Carolina. J Elisha Mitch Sci S 116:206–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz FJ, Dahlberg MD (1978) Biology and ecology of the Atlantic stingray (Dasyatis sabina) (Pisces: Dasyatidae) in North Carolina and Georgia. Northeast Gulf Sci 2:1–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith DT (2012) Using ArcGIS and acoustic telemetry to assess the distribution and movement of coastal shark species off the coast of Georgia, USA. Thesis, Savannah State University

  • Snelson FF, Mulligan TJ, Williams SE (1984) Food habits, occurrence, and population structure of the bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas, in Florida coastal lagoons. B M Sci 34:71–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Snelson FF, Williams-Hooper SE, Schmid TH (1988) Reproduction and ecology of the Atlantic stingray, Dasyatis sabina, in Florida Coastal Lagoons. Copeia 1988:729–739

  • Vaudo JJ, Heithaus MR (2012) Diel and seasonal variation in the use of a nearshore sandflat by a ray community in a near pristine system. Mar and Freshwater Res 63:107–1084

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaudo JJ, Lowe CG (2006) Movement patterns of the round stingray Urobatis halleri (Cooper) near a thermal outfall. J Fish Biol 68:1756–1766

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vianna GMS, Meekan MG, Meeuwig JJ, Speed CW (2013) Environmental influences on patterns of vertical movement and site fidelity of grey reef sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) at aggregation sites. PLoS One 8:e60331

  • Welsh BL (1975) The role of grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio, in a tidal marsh ecosystem. Ecology 56:513–530

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research would not have been possible without funding from the Department of Education Title VII Grant, Award # P382G09003-12, nor without the help of Cameron Brinton, who patiently taught the first author everything from how to efficiently use data management software to how to surgically implant tags into stingrays. We would like to thank Chris Kalinowsky for notifying us when our stingrays ventured into receiver arrays deployed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. We would also like to thank the Nature Conservancy for loaning us additional receivers to expand our study area. We would like to give a special thanks to Amanda Kaltenberg for her edits and contributions as well as the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions. We would also like to thank Brigette A. Brinton, Michele B. Sherman, Jennifer A. Güt, and Dan McGarvey for their editing assistance, and the graduate and undergraduate students at Savannah State University who helped in the field. This publication is listed as Contribution Number 1812 of the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Science.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Sciences Program, Savannah State University, Box 20467, Savannah, GA, 31404, USA

    Sarah Ramsden & Mary Carla Curran

  2. Florida State University Coastal & Marine Laboratory, 3618 Coastal Hwy 98, St. Teresa, FL, 32358, USA

    Charles F. Cotton

Authors
  1. Sarah Ramsden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Charles F. Cotton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mary Carla Curran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah Ramsden.

Ethics declarations

All research was conducted in compliance with protocols approved by the Savannah State University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, collection permit #29-WJH-14-223.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ramsden, S., Cotton, C.F. & Curran, M.C. Using acoustic telemetry to assess patterns in the seasonal residency of the Atlantic stingray Dasyatis sabina . Environ Biol Fish 100, 89–98 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-016-0498-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-016-0498-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation