Abstract
Information about the composition of pelagic communities generally lags far behind that of coastal communities, and largely derives from fisheries data that do not reflect small and non-target species. Spatiotemporal vertebrate diversity and variability associated with environmental drivers across a 3,486 km2 area of a highly productive pelagic marine ecosystem off Pacific Panama (7.583°N, 78.200°W) were described between August 2019 and March 2020 using drifting pelagic baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS), a non-invasive fishery-independent sampling technique. From ~ 240 h of footage, we observed 26 taxa from 17 families, including 1 mammal, 3 reptile, 5 elasmobranch, and 17 teleost species. Community composition varied spatiotemporally with higher taxa richness and total abundance during the wet (April–December) than dry season (January–March). Total abundance also increased with increasing distance from shore/seafloor depth. Spatiotemporal assemblage differences were largely driven by the relative abundance of the small zooplanktivorous fishes: Psenes cyanophrys, Caranx caballus, and Decapterus spp. Psenes cyanophrys and juvenile C. caballus were commonly observed during the wet season and their abundances increased with distance from shore/seafloor depth. Decapterus spp. were observed year-round but were observed more often and in greater numbers with increasing with distance from shore/seafloor depth. This study demonstrates the practical application of drifting pelagic BRUVS to detect a diverse range of pelagic vertebrates and environmentally driven changes in pelagic communities to fill knowledge gaps in data-limited species and regions.
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The datasets generated during/or analyzed during this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This research was made possible by funding from the Guy Harvey Foundation, the Guardians of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape donor group, and Nova Southeastern University, and substantial in-kind logistical support in the field provided by Tropic Star Lodge. We are grateful to the employees of Tropic Star Lodge, especially the captains and mates for their assistance with fieldwork. We also thank Dr. Tracey Sutton for his help identifying pelagic fishes, and Drs. Erin Seney and Kate Mansfield for their help in identifying marine turtle species.
Funding
This work was supported by the Guy Harvey Foundation, the Guardians of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape donor group, and Nova Southeastern University. Substantial in-kind logistical support in the field was provided by Tropic Star Lodge.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. TSP: conducted the fieldwork and video analysis. JJV: analyzed the data. JJV and TSP: wrote the manuscript. All authors provided comments on drafts of the manuscript and approved the final manuscript.
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This was an observational study performed using procedures approved by Nova Southeastern University’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (2017.11.MS1). Work in Panama was conducted under a permit from the Ministerio de Ambiente, República de Panamá (SE/A-64–19).
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Vaudo, J.J., Plum, T.S., Logan, R.K. et al. Diversity and spatiotemporal variation of an Eastern Tropical Pacific pelagic vertebrate community assessed with drifting pelagic BRUVS. Mar Biol 170, 157 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-023-04308-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-023-04308-y