Charlie Huveneers

Flinders University · College of Science and Engineering

Acoustic telemetry is being increasingly used to study the ecology of many aquatic organisms. This widespread use has been advanced by national and international tracking programs that coordinate deployment of passive acoustic telemetry networks on a regional and continental scale to detect tagged animals. While it is well‐known that environmental...

Elasmobranchs can detect minute electromagnetic fields, <1 nVcm(-1), using their ampullae of Lorenzini. Behavioural responses to electric fields have been investigated in various species, sometimes with the aim to develop shark deterrents to improve human safety. The present study tested the effects of the Shark Shield Freedom7™ electric deterrent...

Estimated declines in shark and ray populations worldwide have raised major, widespread concern about the impacts of global fisheries on elasmobranchs. The mechanisms causing elasmobranch mortality during fisheries’ capture are not fully understood, but we must gain greater clarity on this topic for fisheries managers to develop effective conservat...

Quantifying the energy requirements of animals in nature is critical for understanding physiological, behavioural, and ecosystem ecology; however, for difficult-to-study species such as large sharks, prey intake rates are largely unknown. Here, we use metabolic rates derived from swimming speed estimates to suggest that feeding requirements of the...

Investigation of the social framing of human–shark interactions may provide useful strategies for integrating social, biological, and ecological knowledge into national and international policy discussions about shark conservation. One way to investigate social opinion and forces related to sharks and their conservation is through the media's cover...

Tagging fishes with internal or external electronic tracking devices (acoustic, radio, satellite, or archival tags) is invaluable to behavioural, ecological, and welfare research, but may have adverse effects on the animals studied. While short‐term responses to tagging (e.g., days to weeks) have often been investigated, less information is availab...

This study used a novel approach combining stable isotope data and condensed multivariate fatty acid data to define comparative niche space and overlap of six sympatric sharks from the south‐west Indian Ocean: Galeocerdo cuvier , Sphyrna zygaena , Sphyrna lewini , Carcharias taurus , Carcharodon carcharias and Carcharhinus obscurus . G. cuvier had...

Quantifying the trophic role of a species is key to understanding its ecology and ecological role. Their trophic role can influence community composition, ecosystem stability, and nutrient transport and cycling between habitats through ingestion, egestion, and excretion, which requires an understanding of species diet and habitat use. Despite the r...

Estimates of abundance are essential to manage and conserve marine species. Numerous methods are available to determine population size, but the suitability of methods for schooling fishes and the associated precision can vary depending on the species and system. Here, we developed and compared three mark‐recapture/resight methods to assess the mos...

In ecosystems, sharks can be predators, competitors, facilitators, nutrient transporters, and food. However, overfishing and other threats have greatly reduced shark populations, altering their roles and effects on ecosystems. We review these changes and implications for ecosystem function and management. Macropredatory sharks are often disproporti...

White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) play a crucial ecological role, shaping ecosystems through direct predation and risk effects. On the east coast of Australia, immature white sharks are broadly distributed, inhabiting a wide range of habitats and ecosystems from temperate Tasmania to tropical North Queensland. Using stable isotopes and fatty ac...

The frequency of unprovoked shark bites is increasing worldwide, leading to a growing pressure for mitigation measures to reduce shark-bite risk while maintaining conservation objectives. Personal shark deterrents are a promising and non-lethal strategy that can protect ocean users, but few have been independently and scientifically tested. In Aust...

While wildlife tourism may impact the animals it targets, it plays a critical role in public education and conservation awareness. Understanding changes in animal behaviour in response to tourism activities can inform the trade-offs between negative impacts and socioeconomic benefits. There are public claims that cage-diving activities may conditio...

Predators display rhythms in behavior and habitat use, often with the goal of maximizing foraging success. The underlying mechanisms behind these rhythms are generally linked to abiotic conditions related to diel, lunar, or seasonal cycles. To understand their effects on the space use, activity, and swimming depth of gray reef sharks (Carcharhinus...

Background Acoustic telemetry has become a fundamental tool to monitor the movement of aquatic species. Advances in technology, in particular the development of batteries with lives of > 10 years, have increased our ability to track the long-term movement patterns of many species. However, logistics and financial constraints often dictate the locat...

The deep ocean is the last natural biodiversity refuge from the reach of human activities. Deepwater sharks and rays are among the most sensitive marine vertebrates to overexploitation. One-third of threatened deepwater sharks are targeted, and half the species targeted for the international liver-oil trade are threatened with extinction. Steep pop...

Large-bodied sharks can be critical for coupling disparate habitats and food webs, which is considered central for ecosystem stability. Understanding the role of sharks and their associated predator–prey relationships across spatial scales is also integral to the development of multi-species ecosystem models. A combined stomach content (n = 212) an...

Data on the movement and space use of aquatic animals are crucial to understand complex interactions among biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems and facilitate effective conservation and management. Acoustic telemetry (AT) is a leading method for studying the movement ecology of aquatic animals worldwide, yet the ability to efficiently access...

Shark-human interactions are some of the most pervasive human-wildlife conflicts, and their frequencies are increasing globally. New South Wales (Australia) was the first to implement a broad-scale program of shark-bite mitigation in 1937 using shark nets, which expanded in the late 2010s to include non-lethal measures. Using 196 unprovoked shark-h...

Morphological differences in the peripheral (sensory) and central (brain) nervous system may confer sensory and/or behavioral variation in elasmobranchs, both across taxa and throughout ontogeny. Over the last century, sea surface temperatures have increased over 0.5 °C and are predicted to rise 1–4 °C by the year 2100, potentially affecting specie...

Landscapes of fear describe a spatial representation of an animal's perceived risk of predation and the associated foraging costs, while energy landscapes describe the spatial representation of their energetic cost of moving and foraging. Fear landscapes are often dynamic and change based on predator presence and behaviour, and variation in abiotic...

Identifying sex-linked markers from genomic data has both theoretical and applied importance, especially in conservation. Yet, few methods and tools exist to detect such markers from Restriction-site-Associated DNA sequencing reads and even fewer tools can identify sex-linked markers from existing genotyped data. Here, we describe a new R function...

Acoustic telemetry is a popular approach used to track many different aquatic animal taxa in marine and freshwater systems. However, information derived from focal studies is typically resource‐ and geography‐limited by the extent and placement of acoustic receivers. Even so, animals tagged and tracked in one region or study may be detected unexpec...

Identifying the species response to changing environments can contribute towards proactive and adaptable resource management and, although obtaining observations can be logistically challenging for aquatic species, can be postulated through monitoring. A network of acoustic tracking receivers ( n = 93) across south‐eastern Australia was used to ide...

The occurrence and seasonality of the Critically Endangered great hammerhead shark, Sphyrna mokarran, is data deficient in the Central Pacific region. Using photo-identification and laser-photogrammetry, we describe the seasonal population of great hammerhead sharks in the Tiputa pass (Rangiroa atoll) and Tuheiava pass (Tikehau atoll) in the Tuamot...

Wildlife tourism can have adverse effects on the behaviours and movements of animals, with implications for the health and fitness of individuals and populations. We used acoustic-tracking to show that food-based attractants used in shark-tourism increases activity (15%) and burst behaviours (60%) in yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi, n = 18). I...

Wildlife tourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the tourism industry, where feeding animals is often applied to increase the probability of up-close encounters. However, directly feeding wildlife can cause behavioural, ecological, and physiological changes in the target species. In Oslob, Philippines, whale shark (Rhincodon typus) tourism...

Although pervasive, the effects of climate change vary regionally, possibly resulting in differential behavioral, physiological, and/or phenotypic responses among populations within broadly distributed species. Juvenile Port Jackson sharks (Heterodontus portusjacksoni) from eastern and southern Australia were reared at their current (17.6 °C Adelai...

A consortium of recreational fishing advocates, fisheries managers, and marine scientists from Monash University, Victorian Recreational Fishing Peak Body (VRFish), Flinders University, and the Victorian Fisheries Authority collaborated to create best-practice capture, handling, and release guidelines for recreational fishing of sharks and rays. Th...

Wildlife tourism can assist species conservation through community-involvement and education, while contributing to regional economies. In the last decade, shark diving has become increasingly popular among wildlife tourists worldwide, including cage-diving with white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias). In Australia, birthplace of the white shark divi...

Unifying models have shown that the amount of space used by animals (e.g., activity space, home range) scales allometrically with body mass for terrestrial taxa; however, such relationships are far less clear for marine species. We compiled movement data from 1,596 individuals across 79 taxa collected using a continental passive acoustic telemetry...

While personal electric deterrents can reduce the risk of shark bites, evidence for the efficacy of other products is limited. We assessed two versions of a novel electric deterrent-80 and 150 volts (V)-designed to protect a large area (8 m deep × 6 m wide) or to be linked together for greater spatial coverage. We did 116 experimental trials on 43...

Context. Researchers studying animals need to ensure that sampling procedures and the methods they use are as harmless and non-disruptive as possible, particularly when their focal species are threatened or protected. White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are Vulnerable under the IUCN Red List, protected globally, and are frequently studied by mari...

The epidermal microbiome is a critical element of marine organismal immunity, but the epidermal virome of marine organisms remains largely unexplored. The epidermis of sharks represents a unique viromic ecosystem. Sharks secrete a thin layer of mucus which harbors a diverse microbiome, while their hydrodynamic dermal denticles simultaneously repel...

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first globa...

There are increasing concerns over the possible effects of aquaculture pens on the local abundance and residency of sharks, and its associated risk for shark bites at nearby beaches and surf breaks. We used acoustic tracking and a before-during-after-control-impact design to assess the residency and local abundance of 117 bronze whalers and 843 whi...

We describe the Australian Shark-Incident Database, formerly known as the Australian Shark-Attack File, which contains comprehensive reports of 1,196 shark bites that have occurred in Australia over 231 years (1791–2022). Data were collated by the Taronga Conservation Society Australia using purpose designed questionnaires provided to shark-bite vi...

Learning is a process that allows animals to develop adaptive behavioural responses to novel situations within an individual's lifetime. The simplest form of learning, habituation, acts a fundamental filter mechanism, which allows animals to ignore irrelevant recurring stimuli, thereby freeing up fitness-related resources, such as time and energy,...

We examined spatial and temporal variations in the demersal fish assemblage on the continental shelf of the central Great Australian Bight to understand how the assemblage is affected by both fishing and environmental gradients. Data from the Great Australian Bight Trawl Sector (1988–2018) and fishery-independent trawl surveys (2005–2009, 2011, 201...

Over the last century, many shark populations have declined, primarily due to overexploitation in commercial, artisanal and recreational fisheries. In addition, in some locations the use of shark control programs also has had an impact on shark numbers. Still, there is a general perception that populations of large ocean predators cover wide areas...

Abstract Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods are increasingly applied in the marine environment to identify species and community structure. To establish widely applicable eDNA techniques for elasmobranchs, we used the Critically Endangered largetooth sawfish (Pristis pristis Linnaeus, 1758) as a model species for: (1) assessing eDNA particle size dis...

Over the past 4 decades there has been a growing concern for the conservation status of elasmobranchs (sharks and rays). In 2002, the first elasmobranch species were added to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Less than 20 yr later, there were 39 species on Appendix II and 5 o...

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly applied to regulate fishing and conserve marine biodiversity. Yet, MPAs are often designed without sufficient ecological knowledge of the species they are intended to protect. This is particularly relevant to large and wide-ranging marine predators including many elasmobranchs (sharks and rays), for wh...

Large marine predators exhibit high concentrations of mercury (Hg) as neurotoxic methylmercury, and the potential impacts of global change on Hg contamination in these species remain highly debated. Current contaminant model predictions do not account for intraspecific variability in Hg exposure and may fail to reflect the diversity of future Hg le...

Shark bites on humans are rare but are sufficiently frequent to generate substantial public concern, which typically leads to measures to reduce their frequency. Unfortunately, we understand little about why sharks bite humans. One theory for bites occurring at the surface, e.g. on surfers, is that of mistaken identity, whereby sharks mistake human...

Understanding the movement ecology of marine species and connectivity of populations is required for effective fisheries management. This is especially the case for species with wide-ranging distributions for which movement can span across several jurisdictions with different management regulations. We used the Australian national network of acoust...

Marine fisheries in coastal ecosystems in many areas of the world have historically removed large‐bodied individuals, potentially impairing ecosystem functioning and the long‐term sustainability of fish populations. Reporting on size‐based indicators that link to food‐web structure can contribute to ecosystem‐based management, but the application o...

Identifying the species involved in shark bite incidents is an ongoing challenge but is important to mitigate risk. We developed a sampling protocol to identify shark species from DNA transferred to inanimate objects during bite incidents. To develop and refine the technique, we swabbed shark bite impressions on surfboards and wetsuit neoprene coll...

106,107 ✉ replying to A. V. Harry & J. M. Braccini Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03463-w (2021) Our global analysis 1 estimated the overlap and fishing exposure risk (FEI) using the space use of satellite-tracked sharks and longline fishing effort monitored by the automatic identification system (AIS). In the accompanying Comment, Harry...

This article is a response to Murua et al.'s Matters Arising article in Nature, "Shark mortality cannot be assessed by fishery overlap alone," which arose from arising from N. Queiroz et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1444-4 (2019).

Regional endothermy has evolved several times in marine fishes, and two competing hypotheses are generally proposed to explain the evolutionary drivers behind this trait: thermal niche expansion and elevated cruising speeds. Evidence to support either hypothesis is equivocal, and the ecological advantages conferred by endothermy in fishes remain de...

Wildlife tourism uses various stimuli to attract species and facilitate close encounters. Such activities are often referred to as provisioning, however the term is used interchangeably, and sometimes erroneously, with attracting, feeding, luring, and chumming, all of which lack consistent definitions. Here, we review the current use of provisionin...

An animal's energy landscape considers the power requirements associated with residing in or moving through habitats. Within marine environments, these landscapes can be dynamic as water currents will influence animal power requirements and can change rapidly over diel and tidal cycles. In channels and along slopes with strong currents, updraft zon...

Supplementary Material 2 (Figures S1–S2 and Tables S1–S11)

We develop a potentially widely applicable framework for analysing the vulnerability, resilience risk and exposure of chondrichthyan species to all types of anthropogenic stressors in the marine environment. The approach combines the three components of widely applied vulnerability analysis (exposure, sensitivity and adaptability) (ESA) with three...