Data from: Horizontal and vertical movements of Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi): conservation implications of limited migration in a marine sanctuary

Despite the ecological and economic importance of the Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi), little data exist regarding the movements and habitat use of this predator across its range. We deployed 11 pop-up satellite archival tags on Caribbean reef sharks captured in the northeast Exuma Sound, The Bahamas, to assess their horizontal and vertical movements throughout the water column. Sharks showed high site fidelity to The Bahamas suggesting Bahamian subpopulations remain protected within the Bahamian Shark Sanctuary. Depth data indicate that Caribbean reef sharks spent a significant proportion (72–91%) of their time above 50 m in narrow vertical depth bands, which varied considerably on an individual basis. This may be indicative of high site fidelity to specific bathymetric features. Animals exhibited three broadly categorized sporadic off-bank excursions (more than 50 m excursions) down to a depth of 436.1 m, which were more frequent during the night. These deeper excursions during night may be indicative of foraging in relation to prey on mesophotic reefs, as well as diel-vertically migrating prey from the deeper meso- and bathypelagic zones. These vertical movements suggest that Caribbean reef sharks can be significant vectors of ecosystem connectivity further warranting holistic multi-system management and conservation approaches.尽管加勒比礁鲨（Carcharhinus perezi）在生态与经济层面均具有重要价值，但目前针对该捕食者在其分布范围内的活动模式与栖息地利用情况的相关数据仍较为匮乏。本研究于巴哈马群岛埃克苏马湾东北部捕获的加勒比礁鲨身上部署了11个卫星弹出式归档标签（pop-up satellite archival tags），以评估其在整个水体中的水平与垂直活动情况。研究结果显示，该鲨鱼对巴哈马海域表现出极高的位点忠实性，这表明巴哈马海域的礁鲨亚种群能够在巴哈马鲨鱼保护区内得到有效保护。深度监测数据表明，加勒比礁鲨有72%至91%的时间活动于50米以上的狭窄垂直深度区间内，且不同个体的深度偏好存在显著差异。这一现象或暗示它们对特定的海底地形地貌具有较高的位点忠实性。此外，研究对象还表现出三类大致归类的偶发性离岸巡游（单次巡游深度超过50米），最大下潜深度可达436.1米，且这类巡游在夜间发生频率更高。这类夜间深层巡游或与在中光珊瑚礁上觅食相关，同时也可能用于捕食来自中层及深渊带的昼夜垂直迁移猎物。上述垂直活动模式表明，加勒比礁鲨可作为维系生态系统连通性的重要媒介，这进一步凸显了制定全域多系统管理与保护策略的必要性。