![]() ![]() Several of the larger eels (mean TL = 93 cm ± 5.9 SE) showed clear and permanent emigration tracks out of the mangrove estuary to coral reef habitats offshore. Most individuals were more frequently detected at night than during the day suggesting greater nocturnal activity. There was no relationship between eel size (mean TL = 83 cm, range = 54–126 cm) and home range size (mean area of 95% KUD = 5.8 ha ± 0.7 SE). They exhibited high site fidelity in the bays during their residence, using the same general parts of individual bays and did not switch bays except for one individual. Croix, USVI, implanted with coded acoustic transmitters, and their movements were tracked for up to 11 months using an array of 37 stationary acoustic receivers. Sixteen eels were captured from the mangrove fringe in multiple bays on St. Surprisingly, little is known about basic life history of the largest moray eel species in the Caribbean region, the green moray eel (Gymnothorax funebris). Hence, accelerating changes to coastal geomorphology and vegetation will likely alter the abundance and distribution of adult blue crabs, challenging marine spatial planning and ecosystem-based fisheries management. Overall, we discovered that adult blue crab CPUE is influenced by seagrass, salt marsh, and bathymetric features on scales from meters to kilometers, and that habitat associations depend on sex and reproductive stage. ![]() ![]() Moreover, the likelihood of a gravid female having mature eggs was 16 × greater in sparse seagrass and 32 × greater near oceanic inlets. The probability of a female crab being gravid was 2.8 × higher near seagrass meadow edges and 3.3 × higher near deep channels. The probability that a trapped crab was female was 5.1 × higher in sparse seagrass and 8 × higher near deep channels. We found that crab CPUE was 1.7 × higher in sparse (versus dense) seagrass, 2.4 × higher at sites farther from (versus nearer to) salt marshes, and unaffected by proximity to oyster reefs. We examined how local-scale to landscape-scale habitat characteristics and bathymetric features (channels and oceanic inlets) affect the relative abundance (catch per unit effort, CPUE) of adult blue crabs across a > 33 km ² seagrass landscape in coastal Virginia, USA. Understanding how blue crabs respond to coastal landscape change is integral to conservation and management, but such insights have been limited to a narrow range of habitats and spatial scales. tagging, Underwater videoīlue crabs ( Callinectes sapidus ) are highly mobile, ecologically-important mesopredators that support multimillion-dollar fisheries along the western Atlantic Ocean. For resource managers charged with designing and implementing management plans for subtropical coastal habitats and fisheries, our findings provide direct support for the strategy of conserving both inshore seagrass and mangrove habitats as well as offshore coral reefs. griseus, as well as its seasonal movement into or towards offshore reefs. Results of this subtropical study corroborate direct and indirect evidence obtained in tropical waters of multiple inshore habitat use by L. Video photography confirmed diel movement among seagrass and mangrove habitats. griseus exhibits: (1) a distinct diel migration pattern, whereby shallow seagrass beds are frequented nocturnally and mangroves and other habitats with complex structure are occupied diurnally, and (2) bay-to-ocean movement, occurring during the known spawning season of L. Results of ultrasonic acoustic and mini-archival tagging indicated that L. An integrated set of activities was conducted, including tagging and tracking of individuals and underwater video photography to examine the spatial and temporal dynamics of movements among neighboring mangrove, seagrass, and coral reef habitats in the northern Florida Keys, USA. The aim of the present study was to directly evaluate multiple habitat use by an ecologically and economically important reef fish, the gray snapper Lutjanus griseus, in subtropical waters. However, most evidence of such movement has been inferred from density and size structure differences among these habitats in tropical waters. Many fishes are thought to make diel, seasonal and/or ontogenetic migrations among seagrass, mangrove, and coral reef habitats. ![]()
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