Diel movement patterns of the Hawaiian Stingray, Dasyatis lata: implications for ecological interactions between sympatric elasmobranch species.
D. Cartamil, J. Vaudo, C. Lowe, B. Wetherbee & K. Holland

Despite their ecological and commercial importance, there is almost nothing known about the fine-scale movement patterns of Dasyatid rays.  We used acoustic telemetry to track the movement patterns of seven Hawaiian Stingrays, Dasyatis lata, in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii.  These rays were tracked up to 72 hours each and analyzed using GIS methods to elucidate diel patterns in activity space and rate of movement.  Additionally, we examined our data in light of previously published data on juvenile scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini, movement patterns in Kaneohe Bay (Lowe, in press).  Our study shows that D. lata and S. lewini pups in Kaneohe Bay show overlap in habitat use and time of activity – we discuss the implications of these findings for competition between the two species. Manuscript published in the journal Marine Biology, Vol. 142(5): pp. 841-847.
This project was funded by the Pauley Summer Program run through the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology