Padrões de movimentação e uso do habitat de tubarões-lixa, Ginglymostoma cirratum (Bonnaterre 1778), monitorados por marcas acústicas no litoral de Recife, Pernambuco

Abstract

The Nurse sharks, Ginglymostoma cirratum, is a coastal species, found on continental shelves and islands in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean and eastern Pacific Ocean. Despite the relatively high abundance of the nurse shark in coastal waters, their behavior and ecology are poorly studied. Due to their markedly coastal and territorial behavior and habit, one of the techniques most recently used in the study of their movements has been the acoustic telemetry. In this study, the acoustic telemetry was used to evaluate the movements and habitat use by the species in the coast of Recife, in the section between the beaches of Pina and Paiva, area where the sharks are monitored. To this end, 29 acoustic receivers were installed along the shoreline, both within the existing channel parallel to the coastline and outside of it, and four close to shipwrecks positioned to the east and to the north of the coast network of receivers. The catch of animals for labeling was performed using two bottom longlines, 4 km long each, released near the channel in front of the beaches, 6 days a week. The nurse sharks caught were shipped to the sexing procedure, biometrics and marking with surgery, and later released. The number of acoustic detections for each shark in each station was used to investigate site fidelity and the minimum area of dispersion. During 4 consecutive years, 18 nurse sharks were tagged, of which 13 were detected totaling, 9.232 detections. Of the 13 detected sharks, 7 were males, with total length from 118 to 244 cm and 6 were females measuring 147-289 cm. Most detections occurred during the night (5.610 detections; 60%), suggesting that the area of study is a possible feeding ground. The use of active acoustic telemetry, however, is necessary to obtain a better understanding of habitat use and movements of nurse sharks at the study site.