Preliminary insights into the spatial ecology and movement patterns of a regionally critically endangered skate (Rostroraja alba) associated with a marine protected area

ABSTRACT

The implementation of spatial protection measures is currently a priority in batoid species' conservation strategies, but their spatial ecology remains largely unknown. We provide some preliminary insights into the movement patterns of the white skate (Rostroraja alba), a batoid classified as Critically Endangered in European waters. Three individuals (two females: one mature, one immature; and one immature male) were monitored with acoustic telemetry in a marine protected area (Portugal). The mature female remained present in the study area throughout the whole monitoring period (20 months). Residency analyses revealed this specimen spent more than 70% of the time within this coastal marine park. The immature female and the immature male were only detected during three and four months, respectively. Whether the uncovered movement patterns are common within the population remains unclear, but the present study provides useful information to better plan future research on the movement ecology of a rather unstudied species.

KEYWORDS:

• Rajidae
• Elasmobranchs
• Acoustic telemetry
• Fine-scale movement patterns
• Individual behaviour
• MPA

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the colleagues and students who helped in the field work. We also thank ICNF-PNA for the support as the marine park administrative entity, especially Miguel Henriques e Carlos Silva. We are also grateful to Dr. B. Quintella, MARE Institute, project PELSA - Gestão sustentável da Pesca da Enguia na Lagoa de Santo André (PROMAR 31-03-02-FEP-4), for reporting the presence of one individual in their acoustic receivers array. The authors would like to thank to Dr. Richard Mace and Dr. David Abecasis for the constructive criticism and comments on the manuscript as well as for the advice regarding data analyses. We are also grateful to the editor and reviewers for careful reading and useful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Geolocation information

This study took place in the North-eastern Atlantic, western coast of Portugal, specifically in the Luiz Saldanha Marine Park. The fully protected area where the monitoring was carried out is located at: 38.44387ºN 9.02858ºW.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [CCMAR/Multi/04326/2013,SFRH/BD/80771/2011];LIFE-BIOMARES project [LIFE06 NAT/P/000192];Project Buffer ERA-Net BiodivERsA [ANR-12-EBID-0006];CCMAR - Centre of Marine Sciences [research grant CCMAR/BI/0004/2018].