Abstract

Acoustic tagging has become a popular technology for detecting the presence of individuals and tracking movement patterns of a variety of marine species. Autonomous hydrophone receivers and coded acoustic tags are currently being used to track long-term movements of queen conch, Strombus gigas, in two bays in St. John, USVI, Fish Bay and No Name Bay. Hydrophone arrays were placed in each bay to match detection zone boundaries with changes in benthic habitat types to allow discrimination of habitat use. Receiver placements near the mouths of the bays allow us to detect conch moving from shallow to deeper waters, an expected seasonal movement associated with spawning. During each of three field visits per year, uniquely coded acoustic tags are cemented onto the shells of number-tagged queen conch of varying size and maturity. To date, a total of 33 acoustic tags have been set in Fish Bay and 24 in No Name Bay. Our preliminary findings suggest that this technology can elucidate movement patterns and size-specific habitat use, although there are some expected difficulties with sonic tracking in shallow-water environments

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