caa a22 4500 606227938 CHVBK 20210128101201.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150801xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10641-015-0413-5 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10641-015-0413-5 Habitat suitability and environmental factors affecting whale shark ( Rhincodon typus ) aggregations in the Mexican Caribbean [Elektronische Daten] [Ana Hacohen-Domené, Raúl Martínez-Rincón, Felipe Galván-Magaña, Natalí Cárdenas-Palomo, Rafael de la Parra-Venegas, Beatriz Galván-Pastoriza, Alistair Dove] The Mexican Caribbean is considered one of the most important sites for whale shark aggregations. Whale shark groups of over 300 individuals have been recorded frequently. There is little published information regarding the ecology of the whale shark in Mexico, and the role that the Mexican Caribbean plays as habitat for this species. This area has been recognized as important for the whale shark and therefore it is necessary to determine the environmental factors that shape the distribution of these animals. The aim of this study was to identify key environmental factors associated with whale shark feeding aggregations and to determine the patterns in habitat suitability for whale sharks in the Mexican Caribbean through the modeling approach of maximum entropy. Whale shark data obtained for this study included 250 records during April to September (2008-2012). The MaxEnt model performed better than random and produced an area under the curve (AUC) score of 0.946. Primary productivity and sea surface temperature were the variables most strongly related to whale shark sightings. The model predicted a high suitability in areas located to the north of Isla Contoy and the offshore area east of Isla Contoy named "Afuera” (>0.75), with medium suitability north of Cabo Catoche (>0.5) and lower suitability for the northeast of Cabo Catoche (<0.5). The habitat suitability maps also indicated seasonal variations, showing a higher prediction of whale shark sightings during the rainy season (June to October), when primary productivity is higher in the area. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 2015 Whale shark nationallicence MaxEnt model nationallicence Species distribution nationallicence Mexican Caribbean nationallicence Hacohen-Domené Ana Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR), Av. IPN s/n. Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, Apartado Postal 592, La Paz, BCS, Mexico aut Martínez-Rincón Raúl Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste - CONACYT, Avenida IPN s/n, 23096, La Paz, Baja California Sur, México aut Galván-Magaña Felipe Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR), Av. IPN s/n. Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, Apartado Postal 592, La Paz, BCS, Mexico aut Cárdenas-Palomo Natalí Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del IPN, México, Mexico aut de la Parra-Venegas Rafael Ch'ooj Ajauil AC, Av. Xelha N° 1-311, SM 28, 77500, Cancún, Quintana Roo, México aut Galván-Pastoriza Beatriz Ch'ooj Ajauil AC, Av. Xelha N° 1-311, SM 28, 77500, Cancún, Quintana Roo, México aut Dove Alistair Georgia Aquarium Research Center, 225 Baker Street NW, 30313, Atlanta, GA, USA aut Environmental Biology of Fishes Springer Netherlands 98/8(2015-08-01), 1953-1964 0378-1909 98:8<1953 2015 98 10641 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0413-5 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0413-5 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Hacohen-Domené Ana Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR), Av. IPN s/n. Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, Apartado Postal 592, La Paz, BCS, Mexico aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Martínez-Rincón Raúl Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste - CONACYT, Avenida IPN s/n, 23096, La Paz, Baja California Sur, México aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Galván-Magaña Felipe Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR), Av. IPN s/n. Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, Apartado Postal 592, La Paz, BCS, Mexico aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Cárdenas-Palomo Natalí Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del IPN, México, Mexico aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- de la Parra-Venegas Rafael Ch'ooj Ajauil AC, Av. Xelha N° 1-311, SM 28, 77500, Cancún, Quintana Roo, México aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Galván-Pastoriza Beatriz Ch'ooj Ajauil AC, Av. Xelha N° 1-311, SM 28, 77500, Cancún, Quintana Roo, México aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Dove Alistair Georgia Aquarium Research Center, 225 Baker Street NW, 30313, Atlanta, GA, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Environmental Biology of Fishes Springer Netherlands 98/8(2015-08-01), 1953-1964 0378-1909 98:8<1953 2015 98 10641