Latitudinal and seasonal variation in space use by a large, predatory reef fish, Plectropomus leopardus

1. Temperature directly affects the metabolic rate and resource requirements of ectothermic animals, which is likely to influence their movement and habitat use. Space use is a fundamental component of an animal’s ecology and the extent of an animal’s home range has consequences for individual distributions, community structure and ecosystem function. As ocean temperatures continue to rise as a result of global warming, determining the effects of temperature on space use and movement patterns of important fisheries species is vital. 2. Our aim was to investigate the spatial and temporal variation in space use by a tropical fisheries species, the leopard coralgrouper (Plectropomus leopardus) from two latitudinally distinct locations on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) to determine the potential response of large-bodied tropical fishes to ocean warming through behavioural modification. 3. Using passive acoustic telemetry of 36 tagged individuals, we found that both core use areas (50%...