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Investigation of the Life History of the Cownose Ray, Rhinoptera Bonasus (Mitchill 1815)

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Investigation of the Life History of the Cownose Ray, Rhinoptera Bonasus (Mitchill 1815) W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2005 Investigation of the Life History of the Cownose Ray, Rhinoptera bonasus (Mitchill 1815) Donna S. Grusha College of William and Mary - Virginia Institute of Marine Science Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Fresh Water Studies Commons, Oceanography Commons, and the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Grusha, Donna S., "Investigation of the Life History of the Cownose Ray, Rhinoptera bonasus (Mitchill 1815)" (2005). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539617834. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25773/v5-ashb-0008 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Investigation o f t h e L ife H is t o r y o f t h e C o w n o s e R a y , RHINOPTERA BON ASUS (MITCHILL 1815) A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the School of Marine Science The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Donna S. Grusha 2005 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Donna S. Grusha Approved, January 2005 John M. Hoenig, Ph.D. Committee Chairman/Advisor JohmA. Imisick. PmD. Richard W. Brill, Ph.D. John M. Brubaker, Ph.D. T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s A cknowledgements .............................................................................................................. iv L is t o f T a b l e s ............................................................................................................................. v L is t o f F ig u r e s ........................................................................................................................... vi A b s t r a c t ......................................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 2 C hapter 1. Q uantification of D rag and Lift Imposed by Pop-up Satellite A rchival Tags and Estim ation of M etabolic Cost in Cownose Rays .................................................................................................................10 C hapter 2. Com parative Efficacy of Eugenol and Tricaine M ethanesulfonate as an A nesthetic for Cownose Rays ...................3 1 C h a p t e r 3. T r a c k in g o f C o w n o s e R a y M ig r a t io n w it h P o p -u p Satellite A rchival Tags .............................................................................................49 C h a p t e r 4. C o m m e n t s o n U s e o f P o p - u p S a t e l l it e A r c h iv a l T a g s f o r T r a c k in g o f C o a s t a l S p e c ie s ...........................................................................98 A p p e n d ix .......................................................................................................................................... 104 C omprehensive B ibliography ......................................................................................... 109 V i t a .....................................................................................................................................................116 A cknowledgements I would like to thank my committee for their support and suggestions throughout this project. In particular, I would like to express my appreciation to my major advisor, John Hoenig, for giving me this chance to pursue this project and his flexibility in allowing me to pursue my interests in related fields of study. Jack Musick and Rich Brill were invaluable and generous in sharing their expertise in executing a field project of this nature. I could always count on John Brubaker for his encouragement and humor and a little help with the physics. In addition, Mark Patterson participated with the enthusiasm of a committee member but without the recognition. Thanks for encouraging me to think about how the technology affects the animal. I would also like to acknowledge the support of Herb Austin, John Graves and David Evans during my time at VIMS. I wish to express my appreciation to the many staff who contributed to this project with their encouragement and often their time and energy. Thank you to Wendy Lowery, Todd Mathes, Jim Goins, Phil Sadler, Dee Seaver, Deane Estes, Chris Bonzek, Joey Brown, Ruben Rios, Scott Polk, Chris Evans, Bob Fisher, Todd Nelson and Sam Wilson. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the Vessels staff, Sharon Miller, George Pongonis and Susan Rollins. To all of you, your interest in this project and willingness to help will always be remembered. No graduate student project could succeed without the support and commiseration of fellow students. I extend many thanks to my office partner John Walter, Chris Hager, Christina Conrath, Kate Mansfield, Dan Ha, Dave Kerstetter, Todd Gedamke, Jason Romine, Reid Hyle, Winnie Ryan and Helen Woods. Thanks for listening to me when I was discouraged, extending a hand when I needed it and especially for reassuring me that it happens to everybody. Many people outside of VIMS also supported this project and made it possible. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the wonderful people at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, especially those who worked hard to make it happen, Alan Henningsen, Brent Whitaker and Heather Johnson. I am also grateful for the interest and participation of the fishermen of the Chesapeake Bay, most especially Raymond Kellum, John Dryden and Nathan Dryden. Ultimately, this project succeeded in accomplishing its primary goal due to the resourcefulness and curiosity of three Florida beachcombers. I am extremely grateful to Jennifer Ledford , Bill Devries and Becky Fabian for recognizing the scientific value of the PSATs that they found on the beach and making the effort to return them to the research community. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to my very best friend, Joanne Buck. No matter what happens, you are always on my side. I know I can always count on your friendship and support. Thanks for always being there! IV L is t o f T a b l e s TABLE 1-1 Spring scale measurements, angle of deflection, summary of forces exerted and power required for two brands of PS AT over flume velocities from 0.00 m/s to 0.60 m/s ............................................................ 20 TABLE 1-2 Metabolic cost to a 15.5 kg cownose ray to carry a PSAT at various velocities expressed as %TAX ................................................... 24 TABLE 1-3 Metabolic costs to various sizes of cownose ray to carry a Wildlife Computers PSAT expressed as %TAX .................................... 26 TABLE 3-1 PSAT deployment ............................................................................................ 59 TABLE 3-2 Summary of PS AT data retrieval ................................................................... 64 v L is t o f F ig u r e s FIGURE 1-1 Comparison of shape and dimensions of two brands of PSAT ............... 17 FIGURE 1-2 Diagram of experimental set up showing haw angle 0 was measured... 18 FIGURE 1-3 Comparison of force-velocity curves of two brands of PSAT .................. 21 FIGURE 2-1 Mean time (+1 S.D.) to reach each stage of anesthesia............................ 42 FIGURE 2-2 Mean time (+1 S.D.) to reach each stage of recovery .............................. 43 FIGURE 3-1 Cownose ray tagged with Wildlife Computers PAT tag ......................... 60 FIGURE 3-2 Raw geolocations generated by WC-GPE for PAT 01-0066 ................... 66 FIGURE 3-3 Summary of daily depth and temperature ranges for PAT 01-0066 ....... 67 FIGURE 3-4 Raw geolocations generated by WC-GPE for PAT 01-0069 ................... 69 FIGURE 3-5 Summary of daily depth and temperature ranges for PAT 01-0069 ....... 70 FIGURE 3-6 Raw geolocations generated by WC-GPE for PAT 01-0068 ................... 72 FIGURE 3-7 Summary of daily depth and temperature ranges for PAT 01-0068 ....... 73 FIGURE 3-8 Raw geolocations generated by WC-GPE for PAT 02-0465 ................... 75 FIGURE 3-9 Summary of daily depth and temperature ranges for PAT 02-0465 ....... 76 FIGURE 3-10 Bathymetry contours of the South Atlantic Bight .................................... 79 FIGURE 3-11 Sea surface temperature (SST) profiles ...................................................... 81 FIGURE 3-12 Temperature preference profiles .................................................................. 82 FIGURE 3-13a Oceanographic sea surface temperatures from satellite imagery 84 FIGURE 3-13b Oceanographic sea surface temperatures from satellite imagery 85 FIGURE 3-14a Comparison of longitudes estimates for 01-0066 and 01-0069 to the coastline of the South Atlantic Bight .............................................. 87 FIGURE 3-14b Comparison of longitudes estimates for 01-0068 and 02-0465 to the coastline of the South Atlantic Bight .............................................. 88 FIGURE 3-15 Nominal migration track of fall migration for cownose rays ................ 89 FIGURE 3-16 Nominal migration track superimposed over longitude estimates for 01-0066, 01-0069, 01-0068
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