Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Restricted vertical and cross-shelf movements of longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) as determined by pop-up satellite archival tags

  • Short Note
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The global catch of longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) has almost tripled over the past two decades, with recent stock assessments suggesting overexploited stocks. Nine longtail tuna were tracked for 2–115 days with pop-up satellite archival tags off eastern Australia (27.5°S 153.4°E to 27.5°S 153.4°E) to better understand their movements, habitat specificity, and post-capture mortality. Fish primarily utilised coastal waters of 0–25 m (maximum 90 m) and water temperatures of 23–28 °C (17.1–28.5 °C). All fish moved north for distances of up to 654 km, with three fish moving to a known spawning area where their vertical movement behaviour changed abruptly. Their occupation of shallow waters and a lack of diel vertical migrations differ markedly to the habits of oceanodromous Thunnus species. This may be due to the absence of a swim bladder and highly evolved heat exchanging vascular networks that may limit their niche breadth. The tagging data may help improve stock assessment model inputs and subsequent outcomes to guide the development of science-based conservation and management measures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Data availability

The datasets analysed for the study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

References

  • Altringham JD, Shadwick RE (2001) Swimming and muscle function. In: Block BA, Stevens ED (eds) Tuna physiology, ecology and evolution. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 313–344

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Archer MR, Roughan M, Keating SR, Schaeffer A (2017) On the variability of the East Australian Current: jet structure, meandering, and influence on shelf circulation. J Geophys Res Oceans 122:8464–8481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnold G, Dewar H (2001) Electronic tags in marine fisheries research: a 30-year perspective. In: Sibert JR, Nielsen JL (eds) Electronic tagging and tracking in marine fisheries. Springer, The Netherlands, pp 7–64

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Basson M, Bravington MV, Hartog JR, Patterson TA (2016) Experimentally derived likelihoods for light-based geolocation. Methods Ecol Evol 7:980–989

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertrand A, Bard FX, Josse E (2002) Tuna food habits related to the micronekton distribution in French Polynesia. Mar Biol 140:1023–1037

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Block BA (2019) The future of bluefin tunas: ecology, fisheries management, and conservation. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • Block BA, Teo SLH, Walli A, Boustany AM, Stokesbury MJW, Farwell CJ, Weng KC, Dewar H, Williams TD (2005) Electronic tagging and population structure of Atlantic bluefin tuna. Nature 434:1121–1127

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Borthwick D (2012) Review of commonwealth fisheries: legislation, policy and management. agriculture, fisheries and forestry, canberra, ACT

  • Braun CD, Galuardi B, Thorrold SR (2018) HMMoce: an R package for improved geolocation of archival-tagged fishes using a hidden Markov method. Methods Ecol Evol 9:1212–1220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho F, Ahrens R, Murie D, Bigelow K, Aires-Da-Silva A, Maunder MN, Hazin F (2015) Using pop-up satellite archival tags to inform selectivity in fisheries stock assessment models: a case study for the blue shark in the South Atlantic Ocean. ICES J Mar Sci 72:1715–1730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collette B, Graves J (2019) Tunas and billfishes of the world. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • Collette BB, Reeb C, Block BA (2001) Systematics of the tunas and mackerels (Scombridae). In: Block BA, Stevens ED (eds) Tuna physiology, ecology and evolution. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 1–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Cosgrove R, Arregui I, Arrizabalaga H, Goni N, Sheridan M (2014) New insights to behaviour of north Atlantic albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga) observed with pop-up satellite archival tags. Fish Res 150:89–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domeier ML, Speare P (2012) Dispersal of adult black marlin (Istiompax indica) from a Great Barrier Reef spawning aggregation. PLoS ONE 7:e31629

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Domeier ML, Kiefer D, Nasby-Lucas N, Wagschal A, O’Brien F (2005) Tracking Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus orientalis) in the northeastern Pacific with an automated algorithm that estimates latitude by matching sea-surface-temperature data from satellites with temperature data from tags on fish. Fish Bull 103:292–306

    Google Scholar 

  • Fenton J, Ellis JM, Falterman B, Kerstetter DW (2015) Habitat utilization of blackfin tuna, Thunnus atlanticus, in the north-central Gulf of Mexico. Environ Biol Fish 98:1141–1150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fonteneau A, Hallier J-P (2015) Fifty years of dart tag recoveries for tropical tuna: a global comparison of results for the western Pacific, eastern Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Fish Res 163:7–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2020) Fishery and Aquaculture Statistics. Global capture production 1950–2019 (FishstatJ). Updated March, 2020. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome

  • Fu D, Langley A, Merino G, Urtizberea A (2018) Preliminary Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna stock assessment 1950–2017 (stock synthesis). In: Tenth meeting of the IOTC Working Party on Tropical Tunas, China, Shanghai, 29 October 3 November, 2018 Document IOTC-2018-WPTT20-33

  • Galuardi B, Lutcavage M (2012) Dispersal routes and habitat utilization of juvenile Atlantic bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, tracked with mini PSAT and archival tags. PLoS ONE 7:e37829

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Goldsmith WM, Scheld AM, Graves JE (2017) Performance of a low-cost, solar-powered pop-up satellite archival tag for assessing post-release mortality of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) caught in the US east coast light-tackle recreational fishery. Anim Biotelemetry 5:29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray CA, Kingsford MJ (2003) Variability in thermocline depth and strength, and relationships with vertical distributions of fish larvae and mesozooplankton in dynamic coastal waters. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 247:211–224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths SP, Fry GC, Manson FJ, Pillans RD (2007a) Feeding dynamics, consumption rates and daily ration of longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) in Australian waters, with emphasis on the consumption of commercially important prawns. Mar Freshwater Res 58:376–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths SP, Kuhnert PM, Venables WN, Blaber SJM (2007b) Estimating abundance of pelagic fishes using gillnet catch data in data-limited fisheries: a Bayesian approach. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 64:1019–1033

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths SP, Fry GC, Manson FJ, Pillans RD (2017) Morphometric relationships for four Scombridae fish species in Australian waters. J Appl Ichthyol 33:583–585

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths SP, Zischke MT, Van Der Velde T, Fry G (2019) Reproductive biology and estimates of length and age at maturity of longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) in Australian waters based on histological assessment. Mar Freshwater Res 70:1419–1426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths SP, Leadbitter D, Willette D, Kaymaram F, Moazzam M (2020) Longtail tuna, Thunnus tonggol (Bleeker, 1851): a global review of population dynamics, ecology, fisheries, and considerations for future conservation and management. Rev Fish Biol Fish 30:25–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartog JR, Hobday AJ, Matear R, Feng M (2011) Habitat overlap between southern bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna in the east coast longline fishery-implications for present and future spatial management. Deep Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 58:746–752

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hazen EL, Scales KL, Maxwell SM, Briscoe DK, Welch H, Bograd SJ, Bailey H, Benson SR, Eguchi T, Dewar H, Kohin S, Costa DP, Crowder LB, Lewison RL (2018) A dynamic ocean management tool to reduce bycatch and support sustainable fisheries. Sci Adv 4:eaar3001

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hobday AJ, Hartmann K (2006) Near real-time spatial management based on habitat predictions for a longline bycatch species. Fish Manag Ecol 13:365–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobday AJ, Flint N, Stone T, Gunn JS (2009) Electronic tagging data supporting flexible spatial management in an Australian longline fishery. In: Nielsen JL, Arrizabalaga H, Fragoso N, Hobday A, Lutcavage M, Sibert J (eds) Tagging and tracking of marine animals with electronic devices ii reviews: methods and technologies in fish biology and fisheries. Springer, The Netherlands, pp 381–403

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hobday AJ, Maxwell SM, Forgie J, McDonald J, Darby MR, Seto K, Bailey H, Bogard SJ, Briscoe DK, Costa DP, Crowder LB, Dunn DC, Fossette S, Halpin PN, Hartog JR, Hazen EL, Lascelles BP, Lewison RL, Poulos GS, Powers AR (2013) Dynamic ocean management: integrating scientific and technological capacity with law, policy, and management. Stanf Environ Law J 33:125–165

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoolihan JP, Luo J, Abascal FJ, Campana SE, De Metrio G, Dewar H, Domeier ML, Howey LA, Lutcavage ME, Musyl MK, Neilson JD, Orbesen ES, Prince ED, Rooker JR (2011) Evaluating post-release behaviour modification in large pelagic fish deployed with pop-up satellite archival tags. ICES J Mar Sci 68:880–889

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) (2019) Review of the statistical data available for neritic tuna species. In: Ninth meeting of the IOTC Working Party on Neritic Tunas, Mahé, Seychelles, 1–5 July 2019 Document IOTC-2019-WPNT09-07_Rev1

  • International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) (2019) Report of the 2018 ICCAT bigeye tuna stock assessment meeting. SCRS/2018/010. Collect Vol Sci Pap ICCAT 75:1721–1855

    Google Scholar 

  • Lam CH, Nielsen A, Sibert JR (2008) Improving light and temperature based geolocation by unscented Kalman filtering. Fish Res 91:15–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Margulies D, Suter JM, Hunt SL, Olson RJ, Scholey VP, Wexler JB, Nakazawa A (2007) Spawning and early development of captive yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares). Fish Bull 105:249–265

    Google Scholar 

  • Maunder MN, Hinton MG, Bigelow KA, Langley AD (2006) Developing indices of abundance using habitat data in a statistical framework. Bull Mar Sci 79:545–559

    Google Scholar 

  • Minte-Vera CV, Xu H, Maunder MN (2019) Status of yellowfin tuna in the Eastern Pacific Ocean in 2018 and outlook for the future. In: 10th Meeting of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the IATTC, 13–17 May 2019, San Diego, California Document SAC-10-07

  • Mohammed Koya K, Rohit P, Abdussamad EM, Azeez AP, Vase VK, Bharadiya AS (2018) Reproductive biology, diet and feeding pattern of longtail tuna Thunnus tonggol (Bleeker, 1851) in the north-eastern Arabian Sea off Gujarat, India. Indian J Fish 65:16–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Musyl MK, Gilman EL (2019) Meta-analysis of post-release fishing mortality in apex predatory pelagic sharks and white marlin. Fish Fish 20:466–500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen JL, Arrizabalaga H, Fragoso N, Hobday A, Lutcavage M, Sibert J (2009) Tagging and tracking of marine animals with electronic devices. Reviews: methods and technologies in fish biology and fisheries. Springer, The Netherlands

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pedersen MW, Patterson TA, Thygesen UH, Madsen H (2011) Estimating animal behavior and residency from movement data. Oikos 120:1281–1290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raja Bidin RH (2002) Migration patterns of neritic tuna (Euthynnus affinis and Thunnus tonggol) in the South China Sea. Master of Science Dissertation. Faculty of Science and Technology, Kolej Universiti Sains dan Teknologi Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

  • Ridgway KR, Godfrey JS (1997) Seasonal cycle of the East Australian Current. J Geophys Res 102:22921–22936

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaefer KM (1998) Reproductive biology of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Inter Am Trop Tuna Comm Bull 21:201–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaefer KM, Fuller DW, Block BA (2009) Vertical movements and habitat utilization of skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), yellowfin (Thunnus albacares), and bigeye (Thunnus obesus) tunas in the Equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean, ascertained through archival tag data. In: Nielsen JL, Arrizabalaga H, Fragoso N, Hobday A, Lutcavage M, Sibert J (eds) Tagging and tracking of marine animals with electronic devices. Springer, The Netherlands, pp 121–144

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sepulveda CA, Aalbers SA, Wang M, Kneebone J, Bernal D (2020) Post-release survivorship of Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) captured in the California recreational fishery. Fish Res 223. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2019.105413

  • Serventy DL (1942) The tuna Kishinoella tonggol Bleeker in Australia. J Council Sci Industr Res 15:101–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Serventy DL (1956) Additional observations on the biology of the northern bluefin tuna, Kishinoella tonggol (Bleeker), in Australia. Aust J Mar Freshwater Res 7:44–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Sibert JR, Nielsen JL (2001) Electronic tagging and tracking in marine fisheries. Proceedings of the Symposium on Tagging and Tracking Marine Fish with Electronic Devices, February 7–11, 2000, East-West Center, University of Hawaii. Reviews: methods and technologies in fish biology and fisheries. Springer, The Netherlands

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Siriraksophon S (2017) Sustainable management of neritic tunas in Southeast Asia: longtail tuna and kawakawa in focus. Fish People 15:14–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Stokesbury MJW, Neilson JD, Susko E, Cooke SJ (2011) Estimating mortality of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in an experimental recreational catch-and-release fishery. Biol Conserv 144:2684–2691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Syahailatua A, Roughan M, Suthers IM (2011) Characteristic ichthyoplankton taxa in the separation zone of the East Australian Current: larval assemblages as tracers of coastal mixing. Deep Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 58:678–690

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tracey SR, Hartmann K, Leef M, McAllister J (2016) Capture-induced physiological stress and postrelease mortality for Southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) from a recreational fishery. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 73:1547–1556

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walli A, Teo SLH, Boustany A, Farwell CJ, Williams T, Dewar H, Prince E, Block BA (2009) Seasonal movements, aggregations and diving behavior of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) revealed with archival tags. PLoS ONE 4:e6151

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Willette DA, Santos MD, Leadbitter D (2016) Longtail tuna Thunnus tonggol (Bleeker, 1851) shows genetic partitioning across, but not within, basins of the Indo-Pacific based on mitochondrial DNA. J Appl Ichthyol 32:318–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams AJ, Allain V, Nicol SJ, Evans KJ, Hoyle SD, Dupoux C, Vourey E, Dubosc J (2015) Vertical behavior and diet of albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga) vary with latitude in the South Pacific Ocean. Deep Sea Res Part II Top Stud Oceanogr 113:154–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SG, Block BA (2009) Habitat use in Atlantic bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus inferred from diving behavior. Endanger Species Res 10:355–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yesaki M (1994) A review of the biology and fisheries for longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) in the Indo-Pacific Region. FAO Fish Tech Pap 336:370–387

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Chi Hin (Tim) Lam is sincerely thanked for initial assistance with early iterations of geolocation analyses using TrackIT software, and Mitchell Zischke is thanked for assistance with fieldwork. Tagging of longtail tuna was made possible due to the generosity and cooperation of Mark Bargenquast from Hervey Bay Fraser Island Guided Fishing, Colin Limpus and Michelle Jones from Queensland’s Environmental Protection Agency, and technical tagging advice from Ben Galuardi and Molly Lutcavage (University of New Hampshire), Karen Evans (CSIRO), Melinda Holland and Heather Baer (Wildlife Computers).

Funding

The research and production of this paper was carried out using funding from a CSIRO Julius Career Award awarded to the author within the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation’s (CSIRO) Marine and Atmospheric Research Theme under the Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Shane P. Griffiths

    Present address: Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, GPO Box 2583, Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia

    Shane P. Griffiths

Authors
  1. Shane P. Griffiths
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shane P. Griffiths.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All fish were captured, handled, tagged, and released following the procedures approved under permit A3/09 issued by the CSIRO Brisbane Animal Ethics Committee and fish collection permits issued by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (95170), the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (PO910061-1-0), and the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (1002230).

Additional information

Responsible Editor: E. Hunter.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Reviewed by undisclosed experts.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (PDF 2155 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Griffiths, S.P. Restricted vertical and cross-shelf movements of longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) as determined by pop-up satellite archival tags. Mar Biol 167, 117 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03733-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03733-7

Search

Navigation