Abstract

Diel movements of juvenile smalltooth sawfish: implications for defining the size of a nursery hotspot

Highlights

  • Of the chondrichthyan fishes, sawfishes (Pristidae) are the most threatened (Dulvy et al 2014), which elevates the urgency for reducing threats to their populations and delineating critical habitats

  • The Critically Endangered smalltooth sawfish Pristis pectinata was found in the USA along the coast from Texas to the midAtlantic, but because of largely unintentional overfishing, the population has declined, and the range has been reduced to primarily southwestern Florida

  • In 2003, the smalltooth sawfish became the first elasmobranch to be listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act, but has been formally protected in Florida waters since 1992 (FWC 1999, NMFS 2003)

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Summary

Introduction

Sawfishes (Pristidae) are the most threatened (Dulvy et al 2014), which elevates the urgency for reducing threats to their populations and delineating critical habitats. The Critically Endangered smalltooth sawfish Pristis pectinata was found in the USA along the coast from Texas to the midAtlantic, but because of largely unintentional overfishing, the population has declined, and the range has been reduced to primarily southwestern Florida. In 2003, the smalltooth sawfish became the first elasmobranch to be listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act, but has been formally protected in Florida waters since 1992 (FWC 1999, NMFS 2003). In Florida, there are 2 designated critical habitat areas for juvenile smalltooth sawfish — the Charlotte Harbor Estuary Unit and the Ten Thousand Islands/Everglades Unit (NMFS 2009, Norton et al 2012) — and both areas continue to serve as functional nurseries (Poulakis et al 2011, Hollensead et al 2016)

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