Comparative migration ecology of striped bass and Atlantic sturgeon in the US Southern Mid-Atlantic Bight flyway

Seasonal migrations are key to the production and persistence of marine fish populations but movements within shelf movement corridors or, “flyways”, are poorly known. Atlantic sturgeon and striped bass, two anadromous species of concern, are known for their extensive migrations along the US Middle-Atlantic Bight. Seasonal patterns of habitat selection are well described within spawning rivers, estuaries, and shelf foraging habitats, but information on the location and timing of key coastal migrations is limited. Using a gradient-based array of acoustic telemetry receivers, we compared the seasonal incidence and movement behavior of these species in the near-shelf region of Maryland, USA. Atlantic sturgeon incidence was highest in the spring and fall and tended to be biased toward shallow regions, while striped bass had increased presence during spring and winter months and selected deeper waters. Incidence was transient (mean = ~2 d) for both species with a pattern of increased residen...季节性洄游是海洋鱼类种群繁衍与存续的关键环节，但鱼类在陆架洄游通道，即所谓“飞行通道（flyways）”内的移动规律仍鲜为人知。大西洋鲟（Atlantic sturgeon）与条纹鲈（striped bass）是两种受关注的溯河洄游（anadromous）鱼类，它们以沿美国中大西洋湾的长距离洄游行为而闻名。目前学界已对其在产卵河川、河口及陆架觅食生境中的季节性生境选择模式开展了充分研究，但关于关键沿海洄游的发生位置与时间节点的相关信息仍较为匮乏。本研究基于梯度式声学遥测接收器阵列，对美国马里兰州近陆架海域中这两种鱼类的季节性出现率与移动行为开展了对比分析。大西洋鲟的出现率在春季与秋季达到峰值，且倾向于分布在浅水区；而条纹鲈在春季与冬季的出现频次更高，且偏好更深的水域。两种鱼类的单次出现时长均较为短暂（平均时长约2天），且呈现出居留时间延长的趋势……