Costa Rica Roosterfish Tracking Project: Estimating post-release survival and documenting the fine-scale movements of roosterfish (Nematistius pectoralis)

PIER Research Staff:

Chugey Sepulveda, Ph.D.

Scott Aalbers

Chris McCue

Tom Fullam

Collaborative Researchers:

Diego Bernal, Ph.D. (University of Massachusetts)
 

Timeline:

November 2006; on-going.

This project, based at PIER's Costa Rica Field Station, uses acoustic telemetry to detail the post-release behavior and investigate survivorship in a popular local game fish species, the roosterfish (Nematistius pectoralis).

Although the roosterfish is a popular recreational species in the Eastern Pacific, little is known about this fish's movements or biology. In this study, we use Vemco Electronics' V100 Receiver and V16 acoustic transmitters to record the depth and temperature of post-release fish off the coast of Golfito, Costa Rica.

Roosterfish are caught aboard the mothership R/V Volador following the protocols used by most recreational anglers of the region. The fish are then tagged externally with an acoustic transmitter (V16) and released. The tracking team then follows the fish for 24 to 48 hours continuously from a small skiff.

Diego and Chugey collect a blood sample from a sport-caught roosterfish. In addition to the tracking efforts, concurrent studies on the post-recapture blood chemistry of the roosterfish are being performed at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Collectively, we will use these studies to address questions on post-release survivorship of this species.

Chugey and Omar tracking a roosterfish tight to the rocks along the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica