Mapping queen snapper (Etelis oculatus) suitable habitat in Puerto Rico using ensemble species distribution modeling.

ABSTRACT: Queen snapper (Etelis oculatus) is of interest from an ecological and management perspective as it is the second most landed finfish species (by total pounds) as determined by Puerto Rico commercial landings (2010-2019). As fishing activities progressively expand into deeper waters, it is critical to gather data on deep-sea fish populations to identify essential fish habitats (EFH). In the U.S. Caribbean, the critically data-deficient nature of this species has made this challenging. We investigated the use of ensemble species distribution modeling (ESDM) to predict queen snapper distribution along the coast of Puerto Rico. Using occurrence data and terrain attributes derived from bathymetric datasets at different resolutions, we developed species distribution models unique to each samplin

SUBMITTER: Overly KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10896535 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature