Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T21:26:49.975Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

First records of the sicklefin lemon shark, Negaprion acutidens, at Palmyra Atoll, central Pacific: a recent colonization event?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 October 2014

Yannis P. Papastamatiou*
Affiliation:
School of Biology, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 8LB, UK
Chelsea L. Wood
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Michigan 48109, USA
Darcy Bradley
Affiliation:
Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
Douglas J. McCauley
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
Amanda L. Pollock
Affiliation:
US Fish and Wildlife Service, Hawaii, 96850, USA
Jennifer E. Caselle
Affiliation:
Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Y.P. Papastamatiou, School of Biology, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 8LB, UK email: ypapastamatiou@gmail.com
Get access

Abstract

The range of the sicklefin lemon shark (Negaprion acutidens) is expanded to include Palmyra Atoll, in the Northern Line Islands, central Pacific. Despite the fact that researchers have been studying reef and lagoon flat habitats of the Atoll since 2003, lemon sharks were first observed in 2010, suggesting a recent colonization event. To date, only juveniles and sub-adult sharks have been observed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Compagno, L.J.V. and Niem, V.H. (1998) Carcharhinidae. Requiem sharks. In Carpenter, K.E. and Niem, V.H. (eds) FAO identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the western Central Pacific. Rome: FAO, pp. 13121360.Google Scholar
Compagno, L.J.V., Dando, M. and Fowler, S. (2005) Sharks of the world. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press Google Scholar
DeMartini, E.E., Friedlander, A.M., Sandin, S.A. and Sala, E. (2008) Differences in the structure of shallow-reef fish assemblages between fished and unfished atolls in the northern Line Islands, Central Pacific. Marine Ecology Progress Series 365, 199215.Google Scholar
Heupel, M.R., Simpfendorfer, C.A. and Fitzpatrick, R. (2010) Large-scale movements and reef fidelity of grey reef sharks. PLoS One 5, e9650. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009650.Google Scholar
López-Garro, A., Zanella, I., Golfin-Duarte, G. and Pėrez-Montero, M. (2012) First record of the blacktip reef shark Carcharhinus melanopterus (Carcharhiniformes: Carcharhinidae) from the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Revista de Biologia Tropical 60, 275278.Google Scholar
Maragos, J., Miller, J., Gove, J., DeMartini, E., Friedlander, A.M., Godwin, S., Musburger, C., Timmers, M., Tsuda, R., Vroom, P., Flint, E., Lundblad, E., Weiss, J., Ayotte, P., Sala, E., Sandin, S., McTee, S., Wass, T., Siciliano, D., Brainard, R., Obura, D., Ferguson, S. and Mundy, B. (2008) US coral reefs in the Line and Phoenix Islands, Central Pacific Ocean: history, geology, oceanography, and biology. In Riegl, B.M. and Dodge, R.E. (eds) Coral reefs of the USA. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer Science, pp. 595641.Google Scholar
Mourier, J., Buray, N., Schultz, J.K., Clua, E. and Planes, S. (2013) Genetic network and breeding patterns of a sicklefin lemon shark (Negaprion actutidens) population in the Society Islands, French Polynesia. PLoS One 8, e73899. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0073899.Google Scholar
Papastamatiou, Y.P., Caselle, J.E., Friedlander, A.M. and Lowe, C.G. (2009) Distribution, size frequency, and sex ratios of blacktip reef shark Carcharhinus melanopterus at Palmyra Atoll: a predator-dominated ecosystem. Journal of Fish Biology 75, 647654.Google Scholar
Schultz, J.K., Feldheim, K.A., Gruber, S.H., Ashley, M.V., McGovern, T.M. and Bowen, B.W. (2008) Global phylogeography and seascape genetics of the lemon shark (genus Negaprion). Molecular Ecology 17, 53365348.Google Scholar
Stevens, J.D. (1984) Life-history and ecology of sharks at Aldabra atoll, Indian Ocean. Proceedings of the Royal Society, London, B 222, 79106.Google Scholar
Whitney, N.M., Robbins, W.D., Schultz, J.K., Bowen, B.W. and Holland, K.N. (2012) Oceanic dispersal in a sedentary reef shark (Triaenodon obesus): genetic evidence for extensive connectivity without a pelagic larval stage. Journal of Biogeography 39, 11441156.Google Scholar