Photographic identification and citizen science combine to reveal long distance movements of individual reef manta rays Mobula alfredi along Australia's east coast

Asia O Armstrong; Amelia J Armstrong; Michael B Bennett; Anthony J Richardson; Kathy A Townsend; Christine L Dudgeon

doi:10.1186/s41200-019-0173-6

Back

Photographic identification and citizen science combine to reveal long distance movements of individual reef manta rays Mobula alfredi along Australia's east coast

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Photographic identification and citizen science combine to reveal long distance movements of individual reef manta rays Mobula alfredi along Australia's east coast

Asia O Armstrong, Amelia J Armstrong, Michael B Bennett, Anthony J Richardson, Kathy A Townsend and Christine L Dudgeon

Marine Biodiversity Records, Vol.12, pp.1-6

2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41200-019-0173-6

Files and links (2)

pdf

PDF - Published Version (Open Access)1.73 MBDownload View

Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access

url

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41200-019-0173-6View

Published Version

Abstract

animal movement

dispersal capacity

elasmobranch

Great barrier reef

home range

photo-ID

population connectivity

Research into the movement ecology of terrestrial and marine animals is growing globally, especially for threatened species. Understanding how far an animal can move and the extent of its range can inform conservation planning and management. On the east coast of Australia, reef manta rays Mobula alfredi are the subject of a photographic identification study, Project Manta. In June 2018, videos of reef manta rays from the SS Yongala (19.31° S, 147.62° E), were submitted to the Project Manta east coast sightings database. The videos were of two individuals previously identified from North Stradbroke Island (27.42° S, 153.55° E), about 1150 km to the south of the SS Yongala. This represents the greatest point-to-point distance travelled by individual M. afredi and extends the latitudinal range for this sub-population on the east coast. This study highlights that citizen science input can provide valuable data to address knowledge gaps in the distribution and population range of marine species. Knowledge of the 1000+ km range movement potential of individual M. alfredi, highlights the possibility that regional sub-populations may span jurisdictional zones of more countries than previously considered likely, complicating conservation management of this species.

Details

Title: Photographic identification and citizen science combine to reveal long distance movements of individual reef manta rays Mobula alfredi along Australia's east coast
Authors: Asia O Armstrong (Author) - The University of Queensland
Amelia J Armstrong (Author) - The University of Queensland
Michael B Bennett (Author) - The University of Queensland
Anthony J Richardson (Author) - The University of Queensland
Kathy A Townsend (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - School of Science & Engineering
Christine L Dudgeon (Author) - The University of Queensland
Publication details: Marine Biodiversity Records, Vol.12, pp.1-6
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.
Date published: 2019
DOI: 10.1186/s41200-019-0173-6
ISSN: 1755-2672
Copyright note: Copyright © The Author(s). 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated
Grants: Connectivity and movements of large pelagic species of ecotourism value, LP150100669, Australian Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - ARC
Organisation Unit: School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450864702621
Output Type: Journal article

Metrics

13 File views/ downloads

183 Record Views