Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Gardiner, Jayne

Area of Concentration

Marine Biology

Abstract

In this study longline and gillnet fish survey methods were used to survey elasmobranch diversity, abundance, and habitat utilization in the estuarine portion of the Manatee River, Florida. Collecting data on these species is important to conservation, regulation, and management of areas determined to be essential. Essential Fish Habitat is commonly used to define important areas for species, but it is often too broad to enforce effective conservation strategies. One way to determine more crucial habitat is to characterize an area as nursery habitat with three guidelines stated by Heupel et al. (2007). A total of six shark and three stingray species were found totaling 78 individuals. When compared to other surveyed areas contributing to the 2019 Gulf of Mexico Shark Pupping and Nursery (GULFSPAN) survey, Manatee River was the most diverse. In addition to making adjustments in regulations to condense a once wide expanse of essential area, information gained on tracked animals’ movement and residency not only helps to qualify an area as a nursery habitat, but to add to the previously accepted knowledge on migration patterns. Acoustic tags were implanted in four different captured sharks during the course of the research, and telemetry data were obtained for a total of 10 sharks. Once captured, data pertaining to life stage, size, sex, and the environmental water quality provided values comparable to other regions. Using the results of this study as baseline data for comparison to future years research, the area can continue to be characterized as a nursery habitat and evaluated further.

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