Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Seasonality and Ontogenetic Habitat Partitioning of Cownose Rays in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

  • Published:
Estuaries and Coasts Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The seasonal and spatial heterogeneity of highly mobile mesopredators may play a large structuring role in estuarine dynamics. With a hypothesized relaxation of predation pressure from large sharks, growing populations of cownose rays (Rhinoptera bonasus) have been implicated in negatively affecting shellfish beds across multiple estuaries of the Atlantic coast; however, the pervasiveness of these potential impacts remains poorly understood elsewhere due to a lack of information on cownose ray distribution and seasonality across the species’ range. To better predict cownose ray dynamics in estuaries of the northern Gulf of Mexico, we conducted a multi-scale study using a combination of aerial and gillnet surveys. Cownose ray abundance was highly seasonal along the Mississippi-Alabama shelf, and a significant along-shelf gradient (west-east) in nearshore ray density was observed. This trend was best explained by changes in salinity, with higher abundances best correlated with more estuarine (i.e., lower salinity) conditions in nearshore areas. From north-south across the Alabama shelf, cownose rays displayed strong spatial and seasonal distributional patterns with ontogeny: adults (in particular, females) were primarily restricted to barrier islands and Gulf waters, whereas juveniles and young-of-the-year (YOY) exploited fresher waters of inshore bays protected from large predators. Among inshore locales, cownose ray catch was lowest over oyster habitats and only consisted of YOY rays, suggesting that foraging impacts may be reduced in these structurally complex substrates.

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
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ajemian M.J., and S.P. Powers. 2012. Habitat-specific feeding by cownose rays (Rhinoptera bonasus) of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Environmental Biology of Fishes 95(1): 79–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajemian M.J., and S.P. Powers. 2013. Foraging effects of cownose rays (Rhinoptera bonasus) along barrier islands of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 439: 119–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajemian M.J., and S.P. Powers. 2014. Towed-float satellite telemetry tracks large-scale movement and habitat connectivity of myliobatid stingrays. Environmental Biology of Fishes 97(9): 1067–1081.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson M.J. 2001. A new method for non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance. Austral Ecology 26: 32–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson M.J., K.E. Ellingsen, and B.H. McArdle. 2006. Multivariate dispersion as a measure of beta diversity. Ecology Letters 9: 683–693.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barker, A.S. 2006. Rhinoptera bonasus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 August 2015.

  • Bethea D.M., M.J. Ajemian, J.K. Carlson, E.R. Hoffmayer, G.H. Burgess, J.L. Imhoff, and R.D. Grubbs. 2014. Distribution and community structure of coastal sharks in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Environmental Biology of Fishes 98: 1233–1254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bigelow H.B., and W.C. Schroeder. 1953. Sawfishes, guitarfishes, skates and rays. In Fishes of the western North Atlantic, ed. J. Tee-van, 1–514. New Haven: Sears Foundation for Marine Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blaylock R.A. 1989. A massive school of cownose rays, Rhinoptera bonasus (Rhinopteridae), in lower Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. Copeia 1989: 744–748.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blaylock R.A. 1993. Distribution and abundance of the cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, in lower Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries 16: 255–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brunner C., J. Beall, S. Bentley, and Y. Furukawa. 2006. Hypoxia hotspots in the Mississippi Bight. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 36: 95–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke K.R. 1993. Non-paramentric multivariate analyses of changes in community structure. Australian Journal of Ecology 18: 117–143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins A., M. Heupel, and C. Simpfendorfer. 2008. Spatial distribution and long-term movement patterns of cownose rays Rhinoptera bonasus within an estuarine river. Estuaries and Coasts 31: 1174–1183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins A.B., M.R. Heupel, R.E. Hueter, and P.J. Motta. 2007a. Hard prey specialists or opportunistic generalists? An examination of the diet of the cownose ray Rhinoptera bonasus. Marine and Freshwater Research 58: 135–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins A.B., M.R. Heupel, and P.J. Motta. 2007b. Residence and movement patterns of cownose rays Rhinoptera bonasus within a south-west Florida estuary. Journal of Fish Biology 71: 1159–1178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig J.K., P.C. Gillikin, M.A. Magelnicki, and L.N. May. 2010. Habitat use of cownose rays (Rhinoptera bonasus) in a highly productive, hypoxic continental shelf ecosystem. Fisheries Oceanography 19: 301–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dean M.N., J.J. Bizzarro, and A.P. Summers. 2007. The evolution of cranial design, diet, and feeding mechanisms in batoid fishes. Integrative and Comparative Biology 47: 70–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drymon J.M. 2010. Distributions of coastal sharks in the northern Gulf of Mexico: consequences for trophic transfer and foodweb dynamics, 224 p. PhD dissertation: University of South Alabama, Mobile.

  • Drymon J.M., L. Carassou, S.P. Powers, M. Grace, J. Dindo, and B. Dzwonkowski. 2013. Multiscale analysis of factors that affect the distribution of sharks throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico. Fishery Bulletin 111: 370–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estes J.A., and C.H. Peterson. 2000. Marine ecological research in seashore and seafloor systems: accomplishments and future directions. Marine Ecology Progress Series 195: 281–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fegley S.R., C.H. Peterson, N.R. Geraldi, and D.W. Gaskill. 2009. Enhancing the potential for population recovery: restoration options for bay scallop populations, Argopecten irradians concentricus, in North Carolina. Journal of Shellfish Research 28: 477–489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher R.A., G.C. Call, and R.D. Grubbs. 2011. Cownose ray (Rhinoptera bonasus) predation relative to bivalve ontogeny. Journal of Shellfish Research 30: 187–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flemer D., W. Kruczynski, B. Ruth, and C. Bundrick. 1999. The relative influence of hypoxia, anoxia, and associated environmental factors as determinants of macrobenthic community structure in a northern Gulf of Mexico estuary. Journal of Aquatic Ecosystem Stress and Recovery (Formerly Journal of Aquatic Ecosystem Health) 6: 311–327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman M.A., P.B. Conn, and E. Fitzpatrick. 2010. Seasonal occurrence of cownose rays (Rhinoptera bonasus) in North Carolina’s estuarine and coastal waters. Estuaries and Coasts 34: 640–651.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grubbs R.D. 2010. Ontogenetic shifts in movements and habitat use. In Sharks and their relatives II: Biodiversity, adaptive physiology, and conservation, eds. J.C. Carrier, J.A. Musick, and M.R. Heithaus, 319–350. Boca Raton: CRC.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Grusha D.S. 2005. Investigation of the life history of the cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus (Mitchill 1815). Williamsburg: College of William and Mary.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heip C.H.R., N.K. Goosen, P.M.J. Herman, J. Kromkamp, J. Middleburg, and K. Soetaert. 1995. Production and consumption of biological particles in temperate tidal estuaries. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review 33: 1–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heithaus, M. R. 2007. Nursery areas as essential shark habitats: A theoretical perspective. Pages 3–13 in C. T. McCandless, N. E. Kohler, and H. L. Pratt Jr, editors. Shark Nursery Grounds of the Gulf of Mexico and East Coast Waters of the United States. Bethesda: American Fisheries Society Symposium.

  • Heupel M.R., J.K. Carlson, and C.A. Simpfendorfer. 2007. Shark nursery areas: concepts, definition, characterization and assumptions. Marine Ecology Progress Series 337: 287–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingram Jr., G.W., W. Richards, J. Lamkin, and B. Muhling. 2010. Annual indices of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) larvae in the Gulf of Mexico developed using delta-lognormal and multivariate models. Aquatic Living Resources 23: 35–47.

  • Kolmann, M.A., D.R. Huber, P.J. Motta, and R.D. Grubbs. 2015. Feeding biomechanics of the cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, over ontogeny. Journal of Anatomy 227: 341–351.

  • Le Port A., S. Lavery, and J.C. Montgomery. 2012. Conservation of coastal stingrays: seasonal abundance and population structure of the short-tailed stingray Dasyatis brevicaudata at a marine protected area. ICES Journal of Marine Science 69: 1427–1435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lima S.L., and L.M. Dill. 1990. Behavioral decisions make under risk of predation: a review and prospectus. Canadian Journal of Zoology 68: 619–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lo N., L. Jacobson, and J. Squire. 1992. Indices of relative abundance from fish spotter data based on delta-lognormal models. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 49: 2515–2526.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McEachran, J.D., and M.R. de Carvalho. 2002. Myliobatidae, In The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Introduction, molluscs, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes and chimaeras. ed. K.E. Carpenter, pp. 578–585. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5, Rome.

  • Mittlebach G.G., and L. Perrson. 1998. The ontogeny of piscivory and its ecological consequences. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 55: 1454–1465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myers R.A., J.K. Baum, T.D. Shepherd, S.P. Powers, and C.H. Peterson. 2007. Cascading effects of the loss of apex predatory sharks from a coastal ocean. Science 315: 1846–1850.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neer J.A. 2005. Aspects of the life history, ecophysiology, bioenergetics, and population dynamics of the cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, in the northern Gulf of Mexico, in oceanography and coastal sciences, 134. Lousiana: State.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neer J.A., and B.A. Thompson. 2005. Life history of the cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, in the northern Gulf of Mexico, with comments on geographic variability in life history traits. Environmental Biology of Fishes 73: 321–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Notarbartolo-di-Sciara G., and E.V. Hillyer. 1989. Mobulid rays of the eastern Venezuela (Chondrichthyes, Mobulidae). Copeia 3: 607–614.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orth R. 1975. Destruction of eelgrass, zostera marina, by the cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, in Chesapeake Bay. Chespeake Science 16: 205–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson C.H. 1982. Clam predation by whelks (Buscyon spp.): experimental tests of the importance of prey size, prey density, and seagrass cover. Marine Biology 66(2): 159–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson C.H., F.J. Fodrie, H.C. Summerson, and S.P. Powers. 2001. Site-specific and density-dependent extinction of prey by schooling rays: generation of a population sink in top-quality habitat for bay scallops. Oecologia 129: 349–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poulakis G.R. 2013. Reproductive biology of the cownose ray in the Charlotte Harbor Estuarine System, Florida. Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science 5: 159–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powers S.P., and D. Gaskill. 2003. Final report: Bay scallop-cownose ray interactions, 25 p. Morehead City: North Carolina Fishery Resources Program.

  • Rogers C., C. Roden, R. Lohoefener, K. Mullin, and W. Hoggard. 1990. Behavior, distribution, and relative abundance of cownose ray schools Rhinoptera bonasus in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Northeast Gulf Science 11: 69–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz F. 1964. Effects of winter water conditions on fifteen species of captive marine fishes. American Midland Naturalist 71: 434–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz F.J. 1990. Mass migratory congregations and movements of several species of cownose rays, genus Rhinoptera: a world-wide review. The Journal of Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 106: 10–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd T.D., and R.A. Meyers. 2005. Direct and indirect fishery effects on small coastal elasmobranchs in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Ecology Letters 8: 1095–1104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sims D.W., E. Southall, A. Richardson, P. Reid, and J. Metcalfe. 2003. Seasonal movements and behaviour of basking sharks from archival tagging: no evidence of winter hibernation. Marine Ecology Progress Series 248: 187–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith J.W., and J.V. Merriner. 1985. Food habits and feeding behavior of the cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, in lower Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries 8: 305–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith J.W., and J.V. Merriner. 1987. Age and growth, movements and distribution of the cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, in Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries 10: 153–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sponaugle S., and P. Lawton. 1990. Portunid crab predation on juvenile hard clams: effects of substrate type and prey density. Marine Ecology Progress Series 67: 43–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wearmouth V.J., and D.W. Sims. 2008. Sexual segregation in marine fish, reptiles, birds and mammals: behavior patterns, mechanisms and conservation implications. Advances in Marine Biology 54: 101–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weng K.C., D.G. Foley, J.E. Ganong, C. Perle, G.L. Shillinger, and B.A. Block. 2008. Migration of an upper trophic level predator, the salmon shark Lamna ditropis, between distant ecoregions. Marine Ecology Progress Series 372: 253–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

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 from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. In particular, we wish to thank J.M. Drymon, A. Kroetz, M.M. Valentine, C. Louallen-Hightower, J. Herrmann, K. Gregalis, and M.D. Kenworthy for their valuable assistance with capturing specimens and leading gillnet surveys. We are also indebted to advisory members K.L Heck, Jr., J. Valentine, M.R. Heithaus, and P.J. Motta for their valuable comments and input. Historical gillnet data from the coastal Alabama region were graciously supplied by J. Mareska from the Alabama Marine Resources Division. Graduate Fellowship funding and 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.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Matthew J. Ajemian

    Present address: Florida Atlantic University, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Insitute, 5600 US 1 North, Fort Pierce, FL, 34946, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, 6300 Ocean Drive, Unit 5869, Corpus Christi, TX, 78412-5869, USA

    Matthew J. Ajemian

  2. University of South Alabama and Dauphin Island Sea Lab, 101 Bienville Blvd., Dauphin Island, AL, 36528, USA

    Sean P. Powers

Authors
  1. Matthew J. Ajemian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sean P. Powers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthew J. Ajemian.

Additional information

Communicated by Karin E. Limburg

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ajemian, M.J., Powers, S.P. Seasonality and Ontogenetic Habitat Partitioning of Cownose Rays in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Estuaries and Coasts 39, 1234–1248 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-015-0052-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-015-0052-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation