Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Rycyk, Athena

Area of Concentration

Marine Biology, Animal Wellbeing and Conservation

Abstract

Understanding foraging behavior in marine predators is essential for conservation efforts and understanding ecological roles. This study investigates whether whitespotted eagle rays (Aetobatus narinari) exhibit prey preference in a controlled environment. Whitespotted eagle rays were offered eight different prey types across 16 trials over four weeks. In person and video analysis were used to record and analyze behaviors and metrics. There was no significant evidence of prey preference. However, a pattern of prey avoidance was observed, suggesting that certain prey types, such as fighting conchs, are consumed less. This is shown by low consumption rate, the high consumption time, and the high drop rate. This may be due to the behavior of the prey or shell morphology. These findings provide insight into predator-prey interactions that occur in marine ecosystems.

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