caa a22 4500 606227962 CHVBK 20210128101201.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150501xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10641-014-0355-3 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10641-014-0355-3 Distribution and community structure of coastal sharks in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico [Elektronische Daten] [Dana Bethea, Matthew Ajemian, John Carlson, Eric Hoffmayer, Johanna Imhoff, R. Grubbs, Cheston Peterson, George Burgess] Coastal shark abundance and community structure was quantified across 10 geographic areas in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico using fishery-independent gillnet data from 2003 to 2011. A total of 3,205 sets were made in which 14,244 carcharhiniform sharks, primarily juveniles, were caught comprising 11 species from three families. The three most abundant species, Atlantic sharpnose Rhizoprionodon terraenovae, bonnethead Sphyrna tiburo and blacktip sharks Carcharhinus limbatus, were consistently captured over all sampling sites regardless of environmental conditions; however, some species (e.g., bull C. leucas, blacknose C. acrontous, finetooth C. isodon, and sandbar sharks C. plumbeus) were restricted to a specific area or a range of areas. Two-way crossed analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) found geographic area to significantly influence shark species-life stage assemblages while season did not. Resemblance matrices between environmental data and shark community assemblage found the two were weakly but significantly correlated, with the combination of salinity and water clarity producing the highest Spearman rank correlation value. Species diversity varied by geographic area, but was generally highest in areas with the greatest amount of fresh and saltwater fluctuations. Our results suggest that estuarine conditions adjacent to river mouths may affect juvenile shark assemblages across similar latitudes and some areas of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico may be considered important nursery areas for select shark species. This study provides important insight into the habitat use of a variety of coastal shark species and can be used to better manage these species through the determination of critical habitat. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht (outside the USA), 2014 Sharks nationallicence Distribution nationallicence Community structure nationallicence Gulf of Mexico nationallicence Bethea Dana NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Panama City Laboratory, Panama City, FL, USA aut Ajemian Matthew Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA aut Carlson John NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Panama City Laboratory, Panama City, FL, USA aut Hoffmayer Eric NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center Mississippi Laboratories, Pascagoula, MS, USA aut Imhoff Johanna The Florida State University, Coastal and Marine Laboratory, St. Teresa, FL, USA aut Grubbs R. The Florida State University, Coastal and Marine Laboratory, St. Teresa, FL, USA aut Peterson Cheston The Florida State University, Coastal and Marine Laboratory, St. Teresa, FL, USA aut Burgess George The University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, USA aut Environmental Biology of Fishes Springer Netherlands 98/5(2015-05-01), 1233-1254 0378-1909 98:5<1233 2015 98 10641 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-014-0355-3 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/s10641-014-0355-3 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Bethea Dana NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Panama City Laboratory, Panama City, FL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ajemian Matthew Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Carlson John NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Panama City Laboratory, Panama City, FL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Hoffmayer Eric NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center Mississippi Laboratories, Pascagoula, MS, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Imhoff Johanna The Florida State University, Coastal and Marine Laboratory, St. Teresa, FL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Grubbs R. The Florida State University, Coastal and Marine Laboratory, St. Teresa, FL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Peterson Cheston The Florida State University, Coastal and Marine Laboratory, St. Teresa, FL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Burgess George The University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Environmental Biology of Fishes Springer Netherlands 98/5(2015-05-01), 1233-1254 0378-1909 98:5<1233 2015 98 10641