Aggregative Behaviour of Spiny Butterfly Rays (Gymnura altavela, Linnaeus, 1758) in the Shallow Coastal Zones of Gran Canaria in the Eastern Central Atlantic
The presence of spiny butterfly rays, Gymnura altavela, in waters less than 20 m deep off the Canary Islands shows marked seasonality, with relatively high abundances in the summer and autumn. Large aggregations of sometimes hundreds of individuals, primarily females, appear in specific shallow area...
Published in: | Animals |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13091455 |
id |
ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2076-2615/13/9/1455/ |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2076-2615/13/9/1455/ 2023-08-20T04:08:26+02:00 Aggregative Behaviour of Spiny Butterfly Rays (Gymnura altavela, Linnaeus, 1758) in the Shallow Coastal Zones of Gran Canaria in the Eastern Central Atlantic Ana Espino-Ruano Jose J. Castro Airam Guerra-Marrero Lorena Couce-Montero Eva K. M. Meyers Angelo Santana-del-Pino David Jimenez-Alvarado agris 2023-04-25 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13091455 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Ecology and Conservation https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani13091455 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Animals; Volume 13; Issue 9; Pages: 1455 Gymnura altavela butterfly ray visual census ecology elasmobranchs Canary Islands Text 2023 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13091455 2023-08-01T09:50:04Z The presence of spiny butterfly rays, Gymnura altavela, in waters less than 20 m deep off the Canary Islands shows marked seasonality, with relatively high abundances in the summer and autumn. Large aggregations of sometimes hundreds of individuals, primarily females, appear in specific shallow areas of the archipelago and seem to be associated with the seasonal variation in water temperature. This seasonal pattern of presence or absence in shallow areas suggests that spiny butterfly rays migrate into deeper waters or other unknown areas during the rest of the year. G. altavela shows sexual dimorphism; in our study, females were larger and more abundant than males, with a sex ratio of 1:18.9. The species’ estimated asymptotic length, L∞, was 183.75 cm and thus close to the common length reported for the species (200 cm). The von Bertalanffy growth constant (k) oscillated between 0.210 and 0.310 year−1, as similarly described for the species in the Western North Atlantic off the U.S. coast. From June to November, the seawater temperature oscillated between 19 and 24 °C, and massive aggregations of females occurred at 22–24 °C and in a few specific sandy beaches on the islands. Spiny butterfly rays, mostly females, show a preference for aggregating in shallow waters during summertime, probably conditionate to mating or breeding behaviour. Text North Atlantic MDPI Open Access Publishing Animals 13 9 1455 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
Gymnura altavela butterfly ray visual census ecology elasmobranchs Canary Islands |
spellingShingle |
Gymnura altavela butterfly ray visual census ecology elasmobranchs Canary Islands Ana Espino-Ruano Jose J. Castro Airam Guerra-Marrero Lorena Couce-Montero Eva K. M. Meyers Angelo Santana-del-Pino David Jimenez-Alvarado Aggregative Behaviour of Spiny Butterfly Rays (Gymnura altavela, Linnaeus, 1758) in the Shallow Coastal Zones of Gran Canaria in the Eastern Central Atlantic |
topic_facet |
Gymnura altavela butterfly ray visual census ecology elasmobranchs Canary Islands |
description |
The presence of spiny butterfly rays, Gymnura altavela, in waters less than 20 m deep off the Canary Islands shows marked seasonality, with relatively high abundances in the summer and autumn. Large aggregations of sometimes hundreds of individuals, primarily females, appear in specific shallow areas of the archipelago and seem to be associated with the seasonal variation in water temperature. This seasonal pattern of presence or absence in shallow areas suggests that spiny butterfly rays migrate into deeper waters or other unknown areas during the rest of the year. G. altavela shows sexual dimorphism; in our study, females were larger and more abundant than males, with a sex ratio of 1:18.9. The species’ estimated asymptotic length, L∞, was 183.75 cm and thus close to the common length reported for the species (200 cm). The von Bertalanffy growth constant (k) oscillated between 0.210 and 0.310 year−1, as similarly described for the species in the Western North Atlantic off the U.S. coast. From June to November, the seawater temperature oscillated between 19 and 24 °C, and massive aggregations of females occurred at 22–24 °C and in a few specific sandy beaches on the islands. Spiny butterfly rays, mostly females, show a preference for aggregating in shallow waters during summertime, probably conditionate to mating or breeding behaviour. |
format |
Text |
author |
Ana Espino-Ruano Jose J. Castro Airam Guerra-Marrero Lorena Couce-Montero Eva K. M. Meyers Angelo Santana-del-Pino David Jimenez-Alvarado |
author_facet |
Ana Espino-Ruano Jose J. Castro Airam Guerra-Marrero Lorena Couce-Montero Eva K. M. Meyers Angelo Santana-del-Pino David Jimenez-Alvarado |
author_sort |
Ana Espino-Ruano |
title |
Aggregative Behaviour of Spiny Butterfly Rays (Gymnura altavela, Linnaeus, 1758) in the Shallow Coastal Zones of Gran Canaria in the Eastern Central Atlantic |
title_short |
Aggregative Behaviour of Spiny Butterfly Rays (Gymnura altavela, Linnaeus, 1758) in the Shallow Coastal Zones of Gran Canaria in the Eastern Central Atlantic |
title_full |
Aggregative Behaviour of Spiny Butterfly Rays (Gymnura altavela, Linnaeus, 1758) in the Shallow Coastal Zones of Gran Canaria in the Eastern Central Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Aggregative Behaviour of Spiny Butterfly Rays (Gymnura altavela, Linnaeus, 1758) in the Shallow Coastal Zones of Gran Canaria in the Eastern Central Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Aggregative Behaviour of Spiny Butterfly Rays (Gymnura altavela, Linnaeus, 1758) in the Shallow Coastal Zones of Gran Canaria in the Eastern Central Atlantic |
title_sort |
aggregative behaviour of spiny butterfly rays (gymnura altavela, linnaeus, 1758) in the shallow coastal zones of gran canaria in the eastern central atlantic |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13091455 |
op_coverage |
agris |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Animals; Volume 13; Issue 9; Pages: 1455 |
op_relation |
Ecology and Conservation https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani13091455 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13091455 |
container_title |
Animals |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
1455 |
_version_ |
1774720699863138304 |