First record of living Manta alfredi × Manta birostris hybrid

Walter, Ryan P.; Kessel, Steven T.; Alhasan, N.; Fisk, Aaron T.; Heath, Daniel D.; Chekchak, Tarik; Klaus, Rebecca; Younis, Moftah; Hill, Graham; Jones, Bryan W.; Braun, Camrin D.; Berumen, Michael L.; DiBattista, Joseph D.; Priest, Mark A.; Hussey, Nigel E.

doi:10.1007/s12526-013-0183-2

Cited by 26 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Given these similarities in the two species' spatial ecology and habitat use, it remains unclear what factors originally drove speciation and continue to maintain a species boundary. Past introgression and recent evidence of hybridization (Walter et al, 2014) suggest that this boundary may only be weakly maintained, perhaps in part due to the overlap in the two species' ecology.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial ecology and conservation of Manta birostris in the Indo-Pacific

Stewart

Beale

Fernando

et al. 2016

Biological Conservation

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Information on the movements and population connectivity of the oceanic manta ray (Manta birostris) is scarce. The species has been anecdotally classified as a highly migratory species based on the pelagic habitats it often occupies, and migratory behavior exhibited by similar species. As a result, in the absence of ecological data, population declines in oceanic manta have been addressed primarily with international-scale management and conservation efforts. Using a combination of satellite telemetry, stable isotope and genetic analyses we demonstrate that, contrary to previous assumptions, the species appears to exhibit restricted movements and finescale population structure. M. birostris tagged at four sites in the Indo-Pacific exhibited no long-range migratory movements and had non-overlapping geographic ranges. Using genetic and isotopic analysis, we demonstrate that the observed movements and population structure persist on multi-year and generational time scales. These data provide the first insights into the long-term movements and population structure of oceanic manta rays, and suggest that bottom-up, local or regional approaches to managing oceanic mantas could prove more effective than existing, international-scale management strategies. This case study highlights the importance of matching the scales at which management and relevant ecological processes occur to facilitate the effective conservation of threatened species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial ecology and conservation of Manta birostris in the Indo-Pacific

Stewart

Beale

Fernando

et al. 2016

Biological Conservation

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“…Hypotheses for the drivers of these speciation events include fragmentation of productive upwelling environments and reduced food availability during extended periods of global warming, and physical barriers to dispersal and connectivity during ice ages (Poortvliet et al 2015). The most re cently diverged mobulid species shows evidence of hybridization (Walter et al 2014), suggesting that differences in behavior and habitat use, as opposed to geographic isolation, may be the primary factors driving and maintaining speciation (Kashiwagi et al 2011.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trophic overlap in mobulid rays: insights from stable isotope analysis

Stewart¹,

Rohner²,

Araújo³

et al. 2017

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Mobulid rays, a group of closely related filter-feeders, are threatened globally by bycatch and targeted fisheries. Their habitat use and feeding ecology are not well studied, and most efforts have focused on temporally limited stomach content analysis or inferences from tagging data. Previous studies demonstrate a variety of different diving behaviors across species, which researchers have interpreted as evidence of disparate foraging strategies. However, few studies have examined feeding habitats and diets of multiple mobulid species from a single location, and it is unclear if the proposed differences in diving and inferred foraging behavior are examples of variability between species or regional adaptations to food availability. Here, we use stable isotope data from mobulids landed in fisheries to examine the feeding ecology of 5 species at 3 sites in the Indo-Pacific. We use Bayesian mixing models and analyses of isotopic niche areas to demonstrate dietary overlap between sympatric mobulid species at all of our study sites. We show the degree of overlap may be inversely related to productivity, which is contrary to prevailing theories of niche overlap. We use isotope data from 2 tissues to examine diet stability of Manta birostris and Mobula tarapacana in the Philippines. Finally, we observe a significant but weak relationship between body size and isotope values across species. Our findings highlight challenges to bycatch mitigation measures for mobulid species and may explain the multi-species mobulid bycatch that occurs in a variety of fisheries around the world.

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“…Mobulid species are also often characterized by small population sizes that, when combined with low reproductive rates, result in greater vulnerability to harvest than most other marine fishes (Dewar et al 2008;Ferretti et al 2010;Marshall et al 2011;Deakos 2012). However, despite the presence of significant directed fishing effort and a susceptibility to human exploitation, we lack basic ecological information on life history parameters, movements, and habitat use of mantas (Couturier et al 2012;Walter et al 2013). This knowledge gap represents a significant impediment to the development of conservation and management strategies for mobulid rays (White et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movements of the reef manta ray (Manta alfredi) in the Red Sea using satellite and acoustic telemetry

Braun

Skomal²,

Thorrold

et al. 2015

Mar Biol

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within the array. Estimated and realized satellite tag data indicated regional movements <200 km from the tagging location, largely coastal residency, and high surface occupation. GPS-tagged individuals regularly moved within the coastal reef matrix up to ~70 km to the south but continued to return to the tagging area near the high-occupancy sites identified in the acoustic array. We also tested the accuracy of several geolocation models to determine the best approach to analyze our light-based satellite tag data. We documented significant errors in light-based movement estimates that should be considered when interpreting tracks derived from light-level geolocation, especially for animals with restricted movements through a homogenous temperature field. Despite some error in satellite tag positions, combining results from PSAT and acoustic tags in this study yielded a comprehensive representation of manta spatial ecology across several scales, and such approaches will, in the future, inform the design of appropriate management strategies for manta rays in the Red Sea and tropical regions worldwide.

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First record of living Manta alfredi × Manta birostris hybrid

Cited by 26 publications

References 3 publications

Spatial ecology and conservation of Manta birostris in the Indo-Pacific

Spatial ecology and conservation of Manta birostris in the Indo-Pacific

Trophic overlap in mobulid rays: insights from stable isotope analysis

Movements of the reef manta ray (Manta alfredi) in the Red Sea using satellite and acoustic telemetry

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