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Partial migration of the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre), from the Dry Tortugas Islands

Environmental Biology of Fishes volume 101, pages 515–530 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Nurse sharks have not previously been known to migrate. Nurse sharks of the Dry Tortugas (DRTO) mating population have a highly predictable periodic residency cycle, returning to the Dry Tortugas Courtship and Mating Ground (DTCMG) annually (males) or bi- to triennially (females) during the June/July mating season. For 23 years we have followed the movements of 76 recaptured adults of a total of 115 tagged adults. Telemetry detections of 40 females tagged with acoustic transmitters show that most tagged and presumably post-partum females are continuously present in the DRTO in the fall, winter and early spring following the June mating season but these females depart in late March to early May. Detections reveal these females avoid the DTCMG completely during the next mating season, returning from late summer to fall. Telemetry records of nine of 17 adult males that co-habited with these females in the DTCMG depart DRTO waters every July. Both sexes may overwinter in the DRTO. Between 2011 and 2016 three males and five females with transmitters were detected to move up the west coast of Florida outside of the mating season as far north as the waters off Tampa Bay (335 km). Six others were only detected in the lower Florida Keys (292 km). Nine sharks returned to DRTO; one returned six times. Some overwintered and some resumed courtship in June, demonstrating both resident and migratory contingents within their population, partial migration and an ability to navigate with high spatial and temporal precision.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank The Shark Foundation/Hai Stiftung, B. Redsecker and F. Young. for financial support. NSF EAGER grant (IOS#1010567) and NGS CRE grant (#8769-10) were awarded to N. Whitney. We thank the National Park Service at Dry Tortugas and Everglades NPS for logistical support and research permits. J. Hunt, R. Bertelsen, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, South Florida Regional Laboratory, Marathon, FL, and M. Feeley of the NPS, Biscayne Bay National Park, J. Locascio, University of South Florida all shared telemetry data. E. Heist and students from SIU helped with field work and tagging sharks. We thank reviewers B. Frerer, and R. Hueter. The authors wish to also acknowledge the support and assistance of D. Vaughan and the Mote Marine Laboratory Staff at the Summerland, FL. Lab.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mote Marine Laboratory, Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration, 24244 Overseas Highway, Summerland Key, 33042, FL, USA

    Harold L. Pratt Jr

  2. Elasmobranch Field Research Association, PO Box 223, South Thomaston, 04858-0223, ME, USA

    Theo C. Pratt

  3. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, South Florida Regional Laboratory, Marathon, FL, 33050, USA

    Danielle Morley

  4. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Regional Laboratory, St Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    Susan Lowerre-Barbieri & Angela Collins

  5. Fisheries and Aquatic Science Program, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, 7922 North West 71st Street, Gainesville, FL, 32653-3071, USA

    Susan Lowerre-Barbieri

  6. University of Florida IFAS Extension, Florida Sea Grant, Palmetto, FL, 34221, USA

    Angela Collins

  7. Department of Biology, Albion College, Albion, MI, 49224, USA

    Jeffrey C. Carrier

  8. U.S. Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center (WARC), Davie, FL, 33314, USA

    Kristen M. Hart

  9. Behavioral Ecology and Physiology Program, Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL, 34236, USA

    Nicholas M. Whitney

  10. Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, New England Aquarium, 1 Central Wharf, Boston, MA, 02110, USA

    Nicholas M. Whitney

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  1. Harold L. Pratt Jr
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  2. Theo C. Pratt
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Correspondence to Harold L. Pratt Jr.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. Work was carried out under Mote Marine Laboratory IACUC protocol #09-09-NW#1.

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Pratt, H.L., Pratt, T.C., Morley, D. et al. Partial migration of the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre), from the Dry Tortugas Islands. Environ Biol Fish 101, 515–530 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-017-0711-1

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