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Behavior of dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) around drifting FADs as observed from automated acoustic receivers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2008

Marc Taquet ,
Laurent Dagorn ,
Jean-Claude Gaertner ,
Charlotte Girard ,
Riaz Aumerruddy ,
Gorka Sancho  and
David Itano
Marc Taquet
Affiliation:
IFREMER, CRH – HMT, Av. J. Monnet, BP 171, 34203 Sète Cedex, France
Laurent Dagorn
Affiliation:
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, CRH, Av. Jean Monnet, BP 171, 34203 Sète Cedex, France
Jean-Claude Gaertner
Affiliation:
Centre d'Océanologie de Marseille, LMGEM, UMR CNRS 6117, rue de la Batterie des Lions, 13007 Marseille, France
Charlotte Girard
Affiliation:
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, CRH, Av. Jean Monnet, BP 171, 34203 Sète Cedex, France
Riaz Aumerruddy
Affiliation:
Seychelles Fishing Authority, PO Box 449, Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles
Gorka Sancho
Affiliation:
College of Charleston, Grice Marine Laboratory, 205 Fort Johnson Rd., Charleston, SC 29412, USA
David Itano
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii, JIMAR, Pelagic Fisheries Research Program, 1000 Pope Rd. MSB 312, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
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Abstract

To study the behavior of dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) around drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs), we tagged individuals with long-lived, coded sonic transmitters and attached automated sonic receivers to drifting FADs in two regions of the Western Indian Ocean. Among the three tagging methods used in this study (surgery, external hooks, underwater bait without capture), the latest resulted in residence times significantly shorter than the other ones, likely due to regurgitation. Dolphinfish tagged with the two other methods usually stayed several days associated to FADs (Kaplan-Meier survival analysis 5.09 days, mean 6.25 days, SD 4.39 days, maximum 15.26 days), drifting with them. There was no significant difference in the residence times of dolphinfish in equatorial and tropical areas. While associated to FADs, dolphinfish spent most of their time close to floating object (<365 m). The total time spent away from FADs was low (median 8%), and likely corresponded to making feeding excursions. Dolphinfish did not form a single school while associated to a given FADs, but formed multiple small schools. FADs are likely to be sites with exchanges of individuals between schools. These results are discussed in regards to the possibility of FADs acting as ecological traps and the validity of meeting-point hypotheses as an explanation for fish aggregations under floating objects.

Keywords

DolphinfishFADAcoustic taggingUltrasonic telemetryBehavior of fishEcological trapMeeting pointIndian Ocean
Type
Research Article
Information
Aquatic Living Resources , Volume 20 , Issue 4: Fish Aggregating Devices as Instrumented Observatories of Pelagic Ecosystems , October 2007 , pp. 323 - 330
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, IFREMER, IRD, 2008

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