Abstract
Coasting of pelagic thresher sharks, alopias pelagicus, in comparison to two other species of the same ecomorphotype, and the limitation of video capturing in natural settings
Highlights
Coasting, as part of the burst-and-coast pattern, is a common feature in the locomotion repertoire of many teleosts
This study summarizes the first detailed information on swim habits of pelagic thresher sharks, in comparison to oceanic whitetip and blue sharks, gathered through direct observation under natural conditions, and highlights the problems of video capturing in natural settings
Thresher sharks were the only sharks among the three species in which I observed multiple occurrences of coasting
Summary
As part of the burst-and-coast pattern, is a common feature in the locomotion repertoire of many teleosts (see, for example, Fish et al, 1991; Müller et al, 2000; McHenry and Lauder, 2005). One species, the pelagic thresher shark, seems to coast on a more regular basis This species prefers off-shore habitats (Compagno, 2001; Bonfil and Abdallah, 2004; Camhi et al, 2008), it occasionally frequents sea mounts (Oliver et al, 2011) and shallow reefs, so it comes, rarely, into contact with humans. Despite the scarcity of such encounters, I could videotape several coasting occurrences in 2005 in the Red Sea, and the first evaluations revealed that pelagic thresher sharks coast rather frequently compared to other species mentioned above. To verify these first results, I undertook additional trips between 2006 and 2012 to the Red Sea to gather more data on the locomotion patterns of this species
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