Tesis de maestría

Marta Laura Díaz Palacios

Rogelio González Armas y Edgar Mauricio Hoyos Padilla

Maestría en Ciencias en Manejo de Recursos Marinos

07/01/2019

2018

The nursery area of the devil ray, (Mobula munkiana) at a marine protected area in the Espiritu Santo Archipelago, Gulf of California, Mexico. = El área de crianza de la raya diablo (Mobula munkiana) en un área marina protegida del Archipielago Espíritu Santo, Golfo de California, México.

Nurseries areas are crucial habitats for many elasmobranch populations, where females give birth and young of the year (YOY) and juveniles spend their first months or years. On a shallow bay at the Marine Protected Area Espiritu Santo Archipelago (ESA), an ecotourism activity based on the observation of small individuals of Munk’s devil ray was established since 2013. On this study, we assess the potential use of this bay as a nursery area by a filter feeder elasmobranch, Mobula munkiana. We describe its habitat use and seasonality, related to environmental factors. We follow the criteria proposed by Heuple et al., (2007) and used a combination of nonlethal methodologies as traditional tagging (n=95), passive acoustic telemetry (n=7) and environmental factors monitoring during a one-year period. YOY and juveniles were present in higher abundances (86%) than adults and stayed in the bay for periods of up to 145 consecutive days. The residency index was significantly higher inside the bay than in more pelagic habitats around the ESA. The highest residency index for YOY and juveniles was found during the months of August, September and December 2017 finding a significant and positive correlation with water temperatures and zooplankton abundance. The pupping period from April to August was determined by the presence of near-term pregnant females, observations of mating behavior, females with distended cloacas and the presence of neonates. We confirmed the repeated used of ESA by YOY and juveniles across several years from photographs and videos from recreational divers and ecotourism agencies operating in the area. Therefore, we emphasize the importance of shallow bays of ESA and the surrounding region on the early life stages of M. munkiana and the implications that this information plays for managing and reducing the bycatch on coastal artisanal fisheries for this species in the region

mobulas; juvenils; ecoturism; residence; Espiritu Santo island

vi, 45 h.

Disponible solo en versión digital

QL1463 D53 2018 (TESIS)

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