Population structure, migratory behavior and spawning habitat of East Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna revealed by a multi-annual electronic tagging program
During 2008-2014, 101 pop-up satellite and 31 internal archival electronic tags were deployed in bluefin tuna (12 to 250 kg in weight) in the Western and Central Mediterranean and in the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Time at liberty spanned from 18 to 391 days. In the Western and Central Mediterranean,...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
PeerJ
2016
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.1813v1 https://peerj.com/preprints/1813v1.pdf https://peerj.com/preprints/1813v1.xml https://peerj.com/preprints/1813v1.html |
| Summary: | During 2008-2014, 101 pop-up satellite and 31 internal archival electronic tags were deployed in bluefin tuna (12 to 250 kg in weight) in the Western and Central Mediterranean and in the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Time at liberty spanned from 18 to 391 days. In the Western and Central Mediterranean, two behavioral patterns / contingents (highly migratory and resident) were observed to co-occur. Imprinting of early Atlantic migrants is hypothesized to explain the existence of the two contingents. None of the “resident” individuals left the Mediterranean during the whole tracking period. None of the tuna present in the Mediterranean at some point crossed over to the Eastern Mediterranean. The occurrence of potential Mediterranean spawners in North Atlantic waters beyond the 45 o W was also observed. |
|---|