Variation in movement patterns of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) inferred from conventional tagging and ultrasonic telemetry

• Main Authors: Bacheler, Nathan M., Paramore, Lee M., Burdick, Summer M., Buckel, Jeffrey A., Hightower, Joseph E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: Biology; Ecology; Fisheries; Red drum; Sciaenops ocellatus
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1834/25422

We used 25 years of conventional tagging data (n= 6173recoveries) and 3 years of ultrasonic telemetry data (n=105 transmitters deployed) to examine movement rates and directional preferences of four age classes of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) in estuarine and coastal waters of North Carolina. Movement rates of conventionally tagged reddrum were dependent on the age, region, and season of tagging. Age-1 and age-2 red drum tagged along the coast generally moved along the coast, whereas fish tagged in oligohaline waters far from the coast were primarilyrecovered in coastal regions in fall months. Adult (age-4+) red drum moved from overwintering grounds on the continental shelf through inlets into Pamlico Sound in spring and summer months and departed in fall. Few tagged red drum were recovered in adjacent states (0.6% of all recoveries); however, some adult red drum migrated seasonally from overwintering grounds in coastal North Carolina northward to Virginia in spring, returning in fall. Age-2 transmitter-tracked red drum displayed seasonalemigration from a small tributary, but upstream and downstream movements within the tributary were correlatedwith fluctuating salinity regimes and not season. Large-scale conventional tagging and ultrasonic telemetry programscan provide valuable insights into the complex movement patterns of estuarine fish.