Distribution of the Nurse Shark, Ginglymostoma Cirratum, in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
Autor: | Kristin M Hannan, William B Driggers III, David S Hanisko, Lisa M Jones, Amanda B Canning |
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Rok vydání: | 2012 |
Předmět: |
Abiotic component
geography food.ingredient River delta geography.geographical_feature_category Ginglymostoma biology Ecology business.industry Distribution (economics) chemical and pharmacologic phenomena Aquatic Science Oceanography biology.organism_classification Substrate (marine biology) Predation Fishery food Predator avoidance Nurse shark business human activities |
Zdroj: | Bulletin of Marine Science. 88:73-80 |
ISSN: | 0007-4977 |
DOI: | 10.5343/bms.2011.1033 |
Popis: | The distribution of nurse sharks, Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonaterre, 1778), in the northern Gulf of Mexico was examined using fisheries-independent bottom longline data collected from 1995 to 2009. Results indicate that nurse sharks are most abundant in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and their occurrence is relatively rare west of the Mississippi River Delta. While the eastern Gulf of Mexico had significantly different abiotic characteristics than the central and western regions, it is hypothesized that nurse shark distribution in the Gulf of Mexico is most associated with hard bottom substrate. Most nurse sharks were captured in groups of two or more individuals, indicating this species frequently aggregates. Nurse sharks in the region likely aggregate in response to prey availability, rather than for predator avoidance or mating purposes. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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