Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Documentation Of Atlantic Tarpon (Megalops Atlanticus) Space Use And Move Persistence In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Facilitated By Angler Advocates, J. Marcus Drymon, Matthew B. Jargowsky, Michael A. Dance, Mitchell Lovell, Crystal L. Hightower, Amanda E. Jefferson, Andrea M. Kroetz, Sean P. Powers

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus, hereafter tarpon) are facing a multitude of stressors and are considered Vulnerable by the IUCN; however, significant gaps remain in our understanding of tarpon space use and movement. From 2018 to 2019, citizen scientists facilitated tagging of 23 tarpon with SPOT tags to examine space use and movement across the northern Gulf of Mexico. Movement-based kernel densities were used to estimate simplified biased random bridge-based utilization distributions and a joint move persistence model was used to estimate a behavioral index for each fish. Tarpon showed consistent east–west movement from the Alabama/Florida border to Louisiana, and utilization …