Short-Term Fidelity, Habitat Use and Vertical Movement Behavior of the Black Rockfish Sebastes schlegelii as Determined by Acoustic Telemetry.

The recent miniaturization of acoustic tracking devices has allowed fishery managers and scientists to collect spatial and temporal data for sustainable fishery management. The spatial and temporal dimensions of fish behavior (movement and/or vertical migrations) are particularly relevant for rockfi...

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Main Authors: Yingqiu Zhang, Qiang Xu, Josep Alós, Hui Liu, Qinzeng Xu, Hongsheng Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4556453?pdf=render
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author Yingqiu Zhang
Qiang Xu
Josep Alós
Hui Liu
Qinzeng Xu
Hongsheng Yang
author_facet Yingqiu Zhang
Qiang Xu
Josep Alós
Hui Liu
Qinzeng Xu
Hongsheng Yang
author_sort Yingqiu Zhang
collection DOAJ
description The recent miniaturization of acoustic tracking devices has allowed fishery managers and scientists to collect spatial and temporal data for sustainable fishery management. The spatial and temporal dimensions of fish behavior (movement and/or vertical migrations) are particularly relevant for rockfishes (Sebastes spp.) because most rockfish species are long-lived and have high site fidelity, increasing their vulnerability to overexploitation. In this study, we describe the short-term (with a tracking period of up to 46 d) spatial behavior, as determined by acoustic tracking, of the black rockfish Sebastes schlegelii, a species subject to overexploitation in the Yellow Sea of China. The average residence index (the ratio of detected days to the total period from release to the last detection) in the study area was 0.92 ± 0.13, and most of the tagged fish were detected by only one region of the acoustic receiver array, suggesting relatively high site fidelity to the study area. Acoustic tracking also suggested that this species is more frequently detected during the day than at night in our study area. However, the diel detection periodicity (24 h) was only evident for certain periods of the tracking time, as revealed by a continuous wavelet transform. The habitat selection index of tagged S. schlegelii suggested that S. schlegelii preferred natural reefs, mixed sand/artificial reef bottoms and mixed bottoms of boulder, cobble, gravel and artificial reefs. The preference of this species for the artificial reefs that were recently deployed in the study area suggests that artificial seascapes may be effective management tools to attract individuals. The vertical movement of tagged S. schlegelii was mostly characterized by bottom dwelling behavior, and there was high individual variability in the vertical migration pattern. Our results have important implications for S. schlegelii catchability, the implementation of marine protected areas, and the identification of key species habitats, and our study provides novel information for future studies on the sustainability of this important marine resource in eastern China.
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spelling doaj.art-73936a5c7e3c45fd9b45e0cd4cbcdd132022-12-21T23:58:48ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-01109e013438110.1371/journal.pone.0134381Short-Term Fidelity, Habitat Use and Vertical Movement Behavior of the Black Rockfish Sebastes schlegelii as Determined by Acoustic Telemetry.Yingqiu ZhangQiang XuJosep AlósHui LiuQinzeng XuHongsheng YangThe recent miniaturization of acoustic tracking devices has allowed fishery managers and scientists to collect spatial and temporal data for sustainable fishery management. The spatial and temporal dimensions of fish behavior (movement and/or vertical migrations) are particularly relevant for rockfishes (Sebastes spp.) because most rockfish species are long-lived and have high site fidelity, increasing their vulnerability to overexploitation. In this study, we describe the short-term (with a tracking period of up to 46 d) spatial behavior, as determined by acoustic tracking, of the black rockfish Sebastes schlegelii, a species subject to overexploitation in the Yellow Sea of China. The average residence index (the ratio of detected days to the total period from release to the last detection) in the study area was 0.92 ± 0.13, and most of the tagged fish were detected by only one region of the acoustic receiver array, suggesting relatively high site fidelity to the study area. Acoustic tracking also suggested that this species is more frequently detected during the day than at night in our study area. However, the diel detection periodicity (24 h) was only evident for certain periods of the tracking time, as revealed by a continuous wavelet transform. The habitat selection index of tagged S. schlegelii suggested that S. schlegelii preferred natural reefs, mixed sand/artificial reef bottoms and mixed bottoms of boulder, cobble, gravel and artificial reefs. The preference of this species for the artificial reefs that were recently deployed in the study area suggests that artificial seascapes may be effective management tools to attract individuals. The vertical movement of tagged S. schlegelii was mostly characterized by bottom dwelling behavior, and there was high individual variability in the vertical migration pattern. Our results have important implications for S. schlegelii catchability, the implementation of marine protected areas, and the identification of key species habitats, and our study provides novel information for future studies on the sustainability of this important marine resource in eastern China.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4556453?pdf=render
spellingShingle Yingqiu Zhang
Qiang Xu
Josep Alós
Hui Liu
Qinzeng Xu
Hongsheng Yang
Short-Term Fidelity, Habitat Use and Vertical Movement Behavior of the Black Rockfish Sebastes schlegelii as Determined by Acoustic Telemetry.
PLoS ONE
title Short-Term Fidelity, Habitat Use and Vertical Movement Behavior of the Black Rockfish Sebastes schlegelii as Determined by Acoustic Telemetry.
title_full Short-Term Fidelity, Habitat Use and Vertical Movement Behavior of the Black Rockfish Sebastes schlegelii as Determined by Acoustic Telemetry.
title_fullStr Short-Term Fidelity, Habitat Use and Vertical Movement Behavior of the Black Rockfish Sebastes schlegelii as Determined by Acoustic Telemetry.
title_full_unstemmed Short-Term Fidelity, Habitat Use and Vertical Movement Behavior of the Black Rockfish Sebastes schlegelii as Determined by Acoustic Telemetry.
title_short Short-Term Fidelity, Habitat Use and Vertical Movement Behavior of the Black Rockfish Sebastes schlegelii as Determined by Acoustic Telemetry.
title_sort short term fidelity habitat use and vertical movement behavior of the black rockfish sebastes schlegelii as determined by acoustic telemetry
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4556453?pdf=render
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