Guzman
Hector M.
Guzman
Hector M.
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ArticleA crab swarm at an ecological hotspot : patchiness and population density from AUV observations at a coastal, tropical seamount(PeerJ, 2016-04-12) Pineda, Jesus ; Cho, Walter W. ; Starczak, Victoria R. ; Govindarajan, Annette F. ; Guzman, Hector M. ; Girdhar, Yogesh ; Holleman, Rusty C. ; Churchill, James H. ; Singh, Hanumant ; Ralston, David K.A research cruise to Hannibal Bank, a seamount and an ecological hotspot in the coastal eastern tropical Pacific Ocean off Panama, explored the zonation, biodiversity, and the ecological processes that contribute to the seamount’s elevated biomass. Here we describe the spatial structure of a benthic anomuran red crab population, using submarine video and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) photographs. High density aggregations and a swarm of red crabs were associated with a dense turbid layer 4–10 m above the bottom. The high density aggregations were constrained to 355–385 m water depth over the Northwest flank of the seamount, although the crabs also occurred at lower densities in shallower waters (∼280 m) and in another location of the seamount. The crab aggregations occurred in hypoxic water, with oxygen levels of 0.04 ml/l. Barcoding of Hannibal red crabs, and pelagic red crabs sampled in a mass stranding event in 2015 at a beach in San Diego, California, USA, revealed that the Panamanian and the Californian crabs are likely the same species, Pleuroncodes planipes, and these findings represent an extension of the southern endrange of this species. Measurements along a 1.6 km transect revealed three high density aggregations, with the highest density up to 78 crabs/m2, and that the crabs were patchily distributed. Crab density peaked in the middle of the patch, a density structure similar to that of swarming insects.
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ArticleGlobal collision-risk hotspots of marine traffic and the world’s largest fish, the whale shark(National Academy of Sciences, 2022-05-17) Womersley, Freya C. ; Humphries, Nicolas E. ; Queiroz, Nuno ; Vedor, Marisa ; da Costa, Ivo ; Furtado, Miguel ; Tyminski, John P. ; Abrantes, Katya ; Araujo, Gonzalo ; Bach, Steffen S. ; Barnett, Adam ; Berumen, Michael L. ; Bessudo Lion, Sandra ; Braun, Camrin D. ; Clingham, Elizabeth ; Cochran, Jesse E. M. ; de la Parra, Rafael ; Diamant, Stella ; Dove, Alistair D. M. ; Dudgeon, Christine L. ; Erdmann, Mark V. ; Espinoza, Eduardo ; Fitzpatrick, Richard ; Gonzalez Cano, Jaime ; Green, Jonathan R. ; Guzman, Hector M. ; Hardenstine, Royale ; Hasan, Abdi ; Hazin, Fabio H. V. ; Hearn, Alex R. ; Hueter, Robert ; Jaidah, Mohammed Y. ; Labaja, Jessica ; Ladino, Felipe ; Macena, Bruno C. L. ; Morris, John J. Jr. ; Norman, Bradley M. ; Penaherrera-Palma, Cesar ; Pierce, Simon J. ; Quintero, Lina M. ; Ramirez-Macias, Deni ; Reynolds, Samantha D. ; Richardson, Anthony J. ; Robinson, David P. ; Rohner, Christoph A. ; Rowat, David R. L. ; Sheaves, Marcus ; Shivji, Mahmood ; Sianipar, Abraham B. ; Skomal, Gregory B. ; Soler, German ; Syakurachman, Ismail ; Thorrold, Simon R. ; Webb, D. Harry ; Wetherbee, Bradley M. ; White, Timothy D. ; Clavelle, Tyler ; Kroodsma, David A. ; Thums, Michele ; Ferreira, Luciana C. ; Meekan, Mark G. ; Arrowsmith, Lucy M. ; Lester, Emily K. ; Meyers, Megan M. ; Peel, Lauren R. ; Sequeira, Ana M. M. ; Eguiluz, Victor M. ; Duarte, Carlos M. ; Sims, David W.Marine traffic is increasing globally yet collisions with endangered megafauna such as whales, sea turtles, and planktivorous sharks go largely undetected or unreported. Collisions leading to mortality can have population-level consequences for endangered species. Hence, identifying simultaneous space use of megafauna and shipping throughout ranges may reveal as-yet-unknown spatial targets requiring conservation. However, global studies tracking megafauna and shipping occurrences are lacking. Here we combine satellite-tracked movements of the whale shark, Rhincodon typus, and vessel activity to show that 92% of sharks’ horizontal space use and nearly 50% of vertical space use overlap with persistent large vessel (>300 gross tons) traffic. Collision-risk estimates correlated with reported whale shark mortality from ship strikes, indicating higher mortality in areas with greatest overlap. Hotspots of potential collision risk were evident in all major oceans, predominantly from overlap with cargo and tanker vessels, and were concentrated in gulf regions, where dense traffic co-occurred with seasonal shark movements. Nearly a third of whale shark hotspots overlapped with the highest collision-risk areas, with the last known locations of tracked sharks coinciding with busier shipping routes more often than expected. Depth-recording tags provided evidence for sinking, likely dead, whale sharks, suggesting substantial “cryptic” lethal ship strikes are possible, which could explain why whale shark population declines continue despite international protection and low fishing-induced mortality. Mitigation measures to reduce ship-strike risk should be considered to conserve this species and other ocean giants that are likely experiencing similar impacts from growing global vessel traffic.