11 research outputs found
Temporal and Spatial Mapping of Red Grouper \u3cem\u3eEpinephelus morio\u3c/em\u3e Sound Production
The goals of this project were to determine the daily, seasonal and spatial patterns of red grouper Epinephelus morio sound production on the West Florida Shelf (WFS) using passive acoustics. An 11 month time series of acoustic data from fixed recorders deployed at a known E. morio aggregation site showed that E. morio produce sounds throughout the day and during all months of the year. Increased calling (number of files containing E. morio sound) was correlated to sunrise and sunset, and peaked in late summer (July and August) and early winter (November and December). Due to the ubiquitous production of sound, largeâscale spatial mapping across the WFS of E. morio sound production was feasible using recordings from shorter durationâfixed location recorders and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Epinephelus morio were primarily recorded in waters 15â93âm deep, with increased sound production detected in hard bottom areas and within the Steamboat Lumps Marine Protected Area (Steamboat Lumps). AUV tracks through Steamboat Lumps, an offshore marine reserve where E. morio hole excavations have been previously mapped, showed that hydrophoneâintegrated AUVs could accurately map the location of soniferous fish over spatial scales of \u3c 1âkm. The results show that passive acoustics is an effective, nonâinvasive tool to map the distribution of this species over large spatial scales