Abstract
In the open ocean, cycles in vertical movement of predators in response to physical environments and distributions of prey are fundamental to the behavior of predatory species. Multi-species assemblages of sharks provide an ideal venue to study habitat partitioning by upper-level predators in the marine environment. We conducted a pilot study, using acoustic telemetry, to examine the vertical habitat use of four species of sharks at Roca Partida, a small island within the Revillagigedo Archipelago. Roca Partida is a very small (length 100 m) but highly productive pinnacle in the open ocean and may represent an “oasis” for large marine predators. Individuals of four species, the dusky, Galapagos, silvertip, and whitetip reef shark, were detected at Roca Partida for varying periods over two and a half years, exhibiting high levels of residency. Some sharks stayed on only one side of Roca Partida over this entire period of time. We found evidence for vertical habitat partitioning between species which may represent resource partitioning, although there was some intraspecific variability. Our preliminary data suggests that Roca Partida may be an ideal location to study niche partitioning amongs sharks due to limited habitat availability but high productivity.
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Data availability
Access to the data is available upon request to Dr. Mauricio Hoyos-Padilla and Dr. James Ketchum, who oversee the database.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the support Fisher Productions that enabled us to purchase the depth-sensing tags from a grant to UC Davis to conduct research during the filming of SHARK MEN for National Geographic Films. Students at Pelagios-Kakunja assisted F. Lara in the archiving of the files of many shark detections by the two automated monitors, one deployed on the eastern side and the other on the western side of the island. This study was completed under the auspice of the Secretaría de Agricultura, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (DGOPA.06668. 150612.1691) and Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (F00.DRPBCPN-APFFCSL.REBIARRE-102/13) of Mexico. We are also grateful to the Secretaría del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales and the Dirección del Parque Nacional Revillagigedo for providing the necessary permits to conduct research specifically within the Revillagigedo National Park. This work was completed under the auspice of an Animal Care Protocol obtained by the senior author at the University of California, Davis: 16022 – “Tracking sharks in the open ocean”. The acoustic tag detections presented in this review are present in a database maintained by Pelagios Kakunjá.
Funding
All sources of funding for these studies are acknowledged within the review. Permits were obtained from the Mexican government to conduct research in the Revillagigedo National Park. An Animal Care Protocol for the tagging pelagic sharks was obtained from the University of California, Davis’ Animal Care Committee, which includes four certified veterinarians. The reference for the protocol is given within the manuscript. The database with acoustic tag is identified in the “Acknowledgements” section.
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Fig. S1
Detection of coded beacons at increasing distances from Roca Partida with automated monitor oriented with piezo-electric transducer orientated upward 3 m from bottom at depth of 33 m on east side of Roca Partida when wave height was < 1 m. (PNG 216 kb)
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Klimley, A.P., Ketchum, J.T., Lara-Lizardi, F. et al. Evidence for spatial and temporal resource partitioning of sharks at Roca Partida, an isolated pinnacle in the eastern Pacific. Environ Biol Fish 105, 1963–1974 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-021-01206-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-021-01206-4