Publication:
Use of passive acoustic recordings to quantify abundance relationship from courtship associated sounds of the Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) at spawning aggregation sites in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands

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Authors
Clouse, Kimberly A.
Embargoed Until
Advisor
Appeldoorn, Richard S.
College
College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences
Department
Department of Marine Sciences
Degree Level
M.S.
Publisher
Date
2015
Abstract
The Nassau grouper, Epinephelus striatus, has been overfished to commercial extinction, such that many aggregations have diminished or disappeared throughout the Caribbean. Groupers produce sound, and the objective of this research was to quantify the relationship between their courtship associated sounds (CAS) to relative abundance at two spawning aggregations. Passive acoustic monitoring was conducted at Bajo de Sico, Puerto Rico (BDS) and the Grammanik Bank, USVI (GB) for 6 months during the 2013 spawning season. CAS were compared to abundance counts obtained from underwater visual census (UVC) to assess the relationship between sound and abundance at both sites. From linear regression, statistically positive correlations (0.81, 0.75; and R2 =0.56, 0.652) for BDS-Deep and BDS-Shallow, respectively were recorded, while the relationship at GB (0.58, R2=0.334) was more variable, however significant. Variability of site geomorphology, hydrophone placement relative to fish aggregating and fish calling behaviors may explain some variability in this relationship.

La sobrepesca del mero chaerna, Epinephelus striatus, ha causado su extinción comercial y la disminución o desaparición de agregaciones en el Caribe. Esta investigación compara los sonidos asociados al cortejo (CAS) que producen los meros y la abundancia relativa entre dos agregaciones. En la temporada de agregación del 2013, se realizaron monitoreos acústicos pasivos en Bajo de Sico (BDS), Puerto Rico y Grammanik Bank (GB), USVI, durante seis meses. Se compara la relación de los CAS a las abundancias obtenidas por censos visuales (UVC), para ambos sitios. Al utilizar regresiones lineales, se obtuvieron correlaciones positivas de (0.81, 0.75; y R2 =0.56, 0.652) para el BDS-Profundo y el BDS-Llano, respectivamente; pero la relación en GB (0.58, R2=0.334), aunque más variable, fue significativa. Variaciones en la geomorfología del lugar, la ubicación de los hidrófonos en la agregación, y el comportamiento de los peces al vocalizar, podrían explicar alguna variabilidad en estas relaciones.
Keywords
Nassau grouper,
Epinephelus striatus,
Fishes--Spawning,
Courtship behavior in animals
Cite
Clouse, K. A. (2015). Use of passive acoustic recordings to quantify abundance relationship from courtship associated sounds of the Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) at spawning aggregation sites in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands [Thesis]. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11801/785