Scientists shed new light on behavior of shark 'tweens' and '...(l islands for much longer than we though...)

Date:8/24/2009

l islands for much longer than we thought," Dr. Chapman explained. He suspects that future research could show that these stay-at-home behavior patterns are common among many shark species that live and breed around tropical islands. "If island communities develop all of their shark nursery habitats, like mangroves, or overfish baby sharks in local waters, then they will subsequently lose a big chunk of the older sharks as well," he said.

Love them or not, sharks are essential to healthy oceans. Removing these top-level ocean predators will disrupt the local food web and cause negative consequences for other species and the ecosystem at large. Moreover, many tropical islands generate substantial revenue from shark-dive tourism, which this new research suggests will be heavily reliant on sharks born in local nursery areas.

During the course of the Bimini study, from 1995 to 2007, over 1,700 immature lemon sharks were caught, tagged and released. The implanted tags, plus subsequent recaptures and DNA analysis, showed that more than half of the 3- to 7-year-old sharks caught off Bimini were born locally and had lingered near their birthplace for years. Full results are described in the study, entitled, Long-term natal site-fidelity by immature lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) at a subtropical island.

"In general, the survival of these intermediate-aged sharks is critical for sustaining shark populations," said study co-author Dr. Samuel Gruber, Professor at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and Director of the Bimini Biological Field Station, who has been leading the overall lemon shark research program at Bimini since 1978. "Our study suggests that local conservation efforts can help many lemon sharks born at islands like Bimini survive through roughly half of their development to adulthood. Broader scale, sometimes international, management is needed to protect them after they've lef
'/>"/>

Contact: Kathryn Cervino kathryn.cervino@stonybrook.edu 347-439-1816 Stony Brook University Source:Eurekalert

0 GOOD

Page: 1 2 3
Related biology news :

1. UK scientists working to help cut ID theft
2. Scientists show that mitochondrial DNA variants are linked to risk factors for type 2 diabetes
3. Comet probes reveal evidence of origin of life, scientists claim
4. Scientists link fragile X tremor/ataxia syndrome to binding protein in RNA
5. Male elephants get photo IDs from scientists
6. Scientists retrace evolution with first atomic structure of an ancient protein
7. Muscle mass: Scientists identify novel mode of transcriptional regulation during myogenesis
8. Carnegie Mellon scientists develop nanogels that enable controlled delivery of carbohydrate drugs
9. Clemson scientists shed light on molecules in living cells
10. Scientists tackle mystery mountain illness
11. T. rex quicker than Becks, say scientists