2012 COURSE DATES: AUGUST 4 – 17, 2012 - Sirenian International

OUR RESEARCH FINDINGS
Introduction
The Hugh Parkey Foundation for Marine
Awareness and Education hosted our 13day
field course (May 26-June 8, 2010).
Our base station was located at Spanish
Lookout Caye in the Drowned Cayes
east of Belize City. This is a mangrove
island made up of 186 acres. We found a
population of redfin needlefish near the
boat dock. We observed these fish for
two days prior to collecting data and
noticed several types of behavior. These
observations suggested that activity
levels depend on the time of day. Our
objective was to determine if the
occurrence of redfin needlefish
behaviors varied with time of day.
Method
The sample area was 152.7 sq ft between
the restaurant and the manatee museum.
This area is full of marine life offering
food and calm water (except waves from
boats docking). During our observations
we identified three behaviors as follows:
1) Resting - needlefish oriented to the
current in a head first position (Fig. 1).
2) Foraging - needlefish swim in a
random, non-organized manner looking
for food (Fig. 2). 3) Socialization -
needlefish appear to be aware of others
in the population and interactions or
non-aggressive swim takes place.
We observed needlefish three times each
day: morning 6:30-8 am, afternoon 12-4
pm, and evening 6-9 pm. We scanned
fish behavior once per minute for fifteen
minutes, only including calculations in
our results when fish were present. The
abiotic factors of tidal depth, current
speed, and weather conditions also were
recorded.
Results
Needlefish were found to be most socially
active in the morning and afternoon, with the
three behaviors occurring equally at night
(Fig. 3). The only abiotic factor appearing to
have an effect on needlefish behavior was
weather; needlefish were absent during rains.
Figure 3. Number of fish resting, foraging, and
socializing three times during the day.
Discussion
We found that fish numbers did not differ
with time of day, but there was a difference
in behaviors. Behaviors were equal in
occurrence at night with mornings showing
the highest socializing. With further research
we could develop a better understanding of
the effect time of day and other abiotic
factors have on needlefish behavior and
activity.
Literature Cited
Humann, Paul. 2002, Reef Fish Identification
Florida Caribbean Bahamas, pg. 58.
Lovejoy, Nathan R., 2000. Systematics of
Needlefishes and their Allies (Teleostei:
Beloniformes). Volume 54:pg 1349-1362.
Sweat, L.H. 2009, Redfin Needlefishes.
Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce.
Downloaded May 20, 2010.
www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/strong_hotata.htm.