Nurse Sharks of Big Pine Key, Florida (U.S.A.): An Investigation of Growth and Movement, and a Comparison of the Success of Several Types of External Tags
Carrier JC. Nurse Sharks of Big Pine Key, Florida (U.S.A.): An Investigation of Growth and Movement, and a Comparison of the Success of Several Types of External Tags. Pages 655 - 660. In Carrier JC (ed): Proceedings of the Fifth International Coral Reef Congress. Tahiti. 1985. Proceedings of the International Coral Reef Symposium. Volume 6
During the last 5 years, over 100 nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) have been tagged in the Coupon Bight Aquatic Preserve, Big Pine Key, Florida (USA), a shallow, inshore bay measuring approximately 6 square kilometers in area. Combinations of 3 types of external tags have been used, and 10 animals have been tagged and tracked with the use of ultrasonic telemetry. The average size (total length) of the animals upon initial capture was 123.4 + or - 19.6 cm (range: 48-172.5) and 9.9 + or - 4.1 kg (range: 0.7-24.8). 22% of the animals have been recaptured at intervals ranging from 7-884 days, with an average at large time of 315 days. Recapture data predict an average length increase of 10.6 + or - 4.6 cm/yr and average weight gain of 3.4 + or - 1.2 kg/yr. Preliminary results of ultrasonic telemetric tracking indicate no correlation with tidal water movement. Success of three types of external tags was compared. Rate of recovery of animals tagged with stainless steel barbed dart tags was higher than for animals tagged with either plastic barbed dart tags or modified Carlin disc tags. Injuries caused to animals tagged with Carlin disc tags suggest that these tags should be used only for nurse sharks who have attained adult size.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Carrier, J
- Units
- SFCN
- Keywords
- Average, Habitat, length, Monitoring, Range, Size, Weight