Temperature and the vertical movements of oceanic whitetip sharks, Carcharhinus longimanus.

ABSTRACT: Large-bodied pelagic ectotherms such as sharks need to maintain internal temperatures within a favourable range in order to maximise performance and be cost-efficient foragers. This implies that behavioural thermoregulation should be a key feature of the movements of these animals, although field evidence is limited. We used depth and temperature archives from pop-up satellite tags to investigate the role of temperature in driving vertical movements of 16 oceanic whitetip sharks, Carcharhinus longimanus, (OWTs). Spectral analysis, linear mixed modelling, segmented regression and multivariate techniques were used to examine the effect of mean sea surface temperature (SST) and mixed layer depth on vertical movements. OWTs continually oscillated throughout the upper 200 m of the water column.

SUBMITTER: Andrzejaczek S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5974137 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature