Extreme diving behaviour in devil rays links surface waters and the deep ocean

Simon R. Thorrold (), Pedro Afonso, Jorge Fontes, Camrin D. Braun, Ricardo S. Santos, Gregory B. Skomal and Michael L. Berumen
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Simon R. Thorrold: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Pedro Afonso: IMAR (Institute of Marine Research) at the University of the Azores
Jorge Fontes: IMAR (Institute of Marine Research) at the University of the Azores
Camrin D. Braun: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Ricardo S. Santos: IMAR (Institute of Marine Research) at the University of the Azores
Gregory B. Skomal: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Michael L. Berumen: Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Ecological connections between surface waters and the deep ocean remain poorly studied despite the high biomass of fishes and squids residing at depths beyond the euphotic zone. These animals likely support pelagic food webs containing a suite of predators that include commercially important fishes and marine mammals. Here we deploy pop-up satellite archival transmitting tags on 15 Chilean devil rays (Mobula tarapacana) in the central North Atlantic Ocean, which provide movement patterns of individuals for up to 9 months. Devil rays were considered surface dwellers but our data reveal individuals descending at speeds up to 6.0 m s−1 to depths of almost 2,000 m and water temperatures

Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms5274

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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5274

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