Lydie I. E. Couturier

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• B.Sc.(Hon), Ph.D.
• Senior Researcher at France Energies Marines

The Mobulidae are zooplanktivorous elasmobranchs comprising two recognized species of manta rays (Manta spp.) and nine recognized species of devil rays (Mobula spp.). They are found circumglobally in tropical, subtropical and temperate coastal waters. Although mobulids have been recorded for over 400 years, critical knowledge gaps still compromise...

Assessing the trophic role and interaction of an animal is key to understanding its general ecology and dynamics. Conventional techniques used to elucidate diet, such as stomach content analysis, are not suitable for large threatened marine species. Non-lethal sampling combined with biochemical methods provides a practical alternative for investiga...

ABSTRACT: Whale sharks Rhincodon typus are large filter-feeders that are frequently observed feeding in surface zooplankton patches at their tropical and subtropical coastal aggregation sites. Using signature fatty acid (FA) analyses from their subdermal connective tissue and stomach content analysis, we tested whether whale sharks in Mozambique an...

Understanding variations in habitat use through time contributes to identification of habitats critical for species survival. Here we used passive acoustic telemetry to examine the residency and site fidelity patterns of the reef manta ray Mobula alfredi at Lady Elliot Island (LEI), a key aggregation site in eastern Australia. Six acoustic receiver...

Determining the lipid content and fatty acid (FA) composition of aquatic organisms has been of major interest in trophic ecology, aquaculture, and nutrition for over half a century. Although protocols for lipid analysis are well-described, their application to aquatic sciences often requires modifications to adapt to field conditions and to sample...

Lipid and fatty acid datasets are commonly used to assess the nutritional composition of organisms, trophic ecology, and ecosystem dynamics. Lipids and their fatty acid constituents are essential nutrients to all forms of life because they contribute to biological processes such as energy flow and metabolism. Assessment of total lipids in tissues o...

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...

Poster décrivant les objectifs du projet FISHOWF

Non-technical summary A substantial increase in wind energy deployment worldwide is required to help achieve international targets for decreasing global carbon emissions and limiting the impacts of climate change. In response to global concerns regarding the environmental effects of wind energy, the International Energy Agency Wind Technical Collab...

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...

Understanding the relationship between mercury in seafood and the distribution of oceanic methylmercury is key to understand human mercury exposure. Here, we determined mercury concentrations in muscle and blood of bigeye and yellowfin tunas from the Western and Central Pacific. Results showed similar latitudinal patterns in tuna blood and muscle,...

In France, the first offshore wind farm (OWF) should be operational by 2022 and will require full-scale experimentation and monitoring of fish communities to detect and quantify the potential effects of such installations. Fish community structure and individual movement patterns are expected to be influenced by OWF in relation to a large array of...

Role of France Energies Marines in FISHINTEL

Determining the geographic range of widely dispersed or migratory marine organisms is notoriously difficult, often requiring considerable costs and typically extensive tagging or exploration programs. While these approaches are accurate and can reveal important information on the species, they are usually conducted on only a small number of individ...

Oral presentation on a global-scale analysis of trophic interactions in co-occurring tropical tuna using stable isotope analyses

We investigated the effect of the freeze-drying process and rehydration on the lipid class composition of fish and shellfish tissues, and the effect of short- and long-term storage of freeze-dried samples on the FA composition of yellowfin tuna muscle. We found no effect of rehydration prior to extraction on the lipid class composition of both fish...

Manta and devil rays are filter-feeding elasmobranchs that are found circumglobally in tropical and subtropical waters. Although relatively understudied for most of the Twentieth century, public awareness and scientific research on these species has increased dramatically in recent years. Much of this attention has been in response to targeted fish...

Tropical tuna fisheries are of vital importance to many developing countries as they heavily depend on these industries for food security and national income. Knowledge on trophic interactions among species present in these fisheries is essential to understanding food-web dynamics supporting tuna populations and how these may alter with climate-dri...

In the Gulf of Guinea, bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus; BET) and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares; YFT) are an important part of commercial fisheries and play a prominent ecological role as top predators. Using fatty acid profiles and carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, we examined their trophic niche partitioning in this understudied region. Trophic...

Traditionally, large planktivorous elasmobranchs have been thought to predominantly feed on surface zooplankton during daytime hours. However, the recent application of molecular methods to examine long-term assimilated diets, has revealed that these species likely gain the majority from deeper or demersal sources. Signature fatty acid analysis (FA...

Comparison of surface zooplankton signature fatty acid (FA) profiles among sampling months with 95% ellipses. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling ordination of surface zooplankton FA profiles sampled at Isla de la Plata, Ecuador, from August 2013 to October 2013, and August 2014 to September 2014. There was a significant difference among samples (...

Signature fatty acid (FA) profiles (% of total FA ± s.d.) of surface zooplankton collected from Isla de la Plata, Ecuador among sampling months and temperature groupings. Here, the FA profiles of surface zooplankton were significantly different among sampling months and temperature groupings (SIMPER, p <0.05). (DOCX)

Individual Mobula birostris and surface zooplankton fatty acid profiles, along with sampling date and location. (XLSX)

Comparison of surface zooplankton signature fatty acid (FA) profiles between different in situ temperature groupings at time of collection. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling ordination of surface zooplankton FA profiles sampled at Isla de la Plata, Ecuador, from August—October 2013, and August—September 2014. There was a significant difference i...

Signature fatty acid (FA) profiles (% of total FA ± s.d.) of Mobula birostris among sample collection years. The FA profiles of M. birostris were not significantly different among years (ANOSIM, R = 0.04753, p = 0.27). (PDF)

Similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER) of surface zooplankton fatty acid profiles among cluster groups 1 and 2 (80% similarity). Fatty acids with an average contribution >5% are included and data was not transformed prior to analysis. (PDF)

Similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER) results of Mobula birostris fatty acid profiles for cluster groups A and B (70% similarity). Fatty acids with an average contribution >5% are included and data was not transformed prior to analysis. (PDF)

Detailed methodology for lipid extraction and signature fatty acid analysis. (DOCX)

Supplementary information for sample collection, isotope values for individual Manta birostris and surface zooplankton tows, and mixing model summary statistics.Included here is a detailed sample collection protocol for obtaining M. birostris muscle tissue samples from free swimming animals. Additionally, the CN isotope values for individual Manta...

The characterization of diet for the giant manta ray Manta birostris has been problematic given their large-scale movement patterns and the difficulty in obtaining stomach contents from this species. The large majority of existing information is based on observational data limited to feeding events at the sea surface during daylight. Recently disco...

Large tropical and sub-tropical marine animals must meet their energetic requirements in a largely oligotrophic environment. Many planktivorous elasmobranchs, whose thermal ecologies prevent foraging in nutrient-rich polar waters, aggregate seasonally at predictable locations throughout tropical oceans where they are observed feeding. Here we inves...

Underlying dataset for 2014 reef manta ray feeding study at Lady Elliot Island. (XLSX)

The preserved stomach contents from the manta ray, collected in 1935, that provided the basis for the 2009 taxonomic resurrection of the species Manta alfredi, were examined. The majority of the material comprised calanoid copepods (61.7%) and trypanorhynch cestodes (34.6%), with minor contributions by arrow worms, a barnacle larva and a nematode....

Included here is a detailed sample collection protocol for obtaining M. birostris muscle tissue samples from free swimming animals. Additionally, the CN isotope values for individual Manta birostris and surface zooplankton tows are presented, along with mixing model summary statistics for the mean credible interval source contributions of surface z...

Included here is a detailed sample collection protocol for obtaining M. birostris muscle tissue samples from free swimming animals. Additionally, the CN isotope values for individual Manta birostris and surface zooplankton tows are presented, along with mixing model summary statistics for the mean credible interval source contributions of surface z...

Reliable abundance assessments are essential to the study of population dynamics and underpin conservation biology and management of a species. Although fishing pressure is a major threat to Manta spp., information on the trends and status of many of the species’ subpopulations is lacking. Here we use photographic identification and mark-recapture...

The Mobulidae are zooplanktivorous elasmobranchs comprising two recognised species of manta rays (Manta spp.) and nine recognised species of devil rays (Mobula spp.). They are found circumglobally in tropical, subtropical and temperate coastal waters. Although mobulid rays have been recorded for over 400 years, critical knowledge gaps still comprom...

Manta rays (Manta alfredi) are among the largest fishes in the world and are present throughout subtropical and tropical oceans. They occupy large home ranges, migrate seasonally and aggregate at predictable locations. Aggregation sites are convenient areas for data collection, where the animals use critical habitat and can be easily approached by...

We present the first photographic evidence of the presence of the giant manta ray Manta birostris in east Australian waters. Two individuals were photographed off Montague Island in New South Wales and off the north east coast of Tasmania, during summer 2012 and 2014, respectively. These sightings confirm previous unver-ified reports on the species...

We present the first photographic evidence of the presence of the giant manta ray Manta birostris in east Australian waters. Two individuals were photographed off Montague Island in New South Wales and off the north east coast of Tasmania, during summer 2012 and 2014, respectively. These sightings confirm previous unverified reports on the species...

We present the first photographic evidence of the presence of the giant manta ray Manta birostris in east Australian waters. Two individuals were photographed off Montague Island in New South Wales and off the north east coast of Tasmania, during summer 2012 and 2014, respectively. These sightings confirm previous unverified reports on the species...

Manta rays (Manta spp.) are plankton-feeding elasmobranchs classified as Vulnerable to Extinction on the IUCN Red List for Threatened Species. Despite increasing public and scientific interest in manta rays, major knowledge gaps concerning their movement ecology and dispersal capabilities remain. Here we used pop-off satellite-linked archival trans...

Assessing the trophic role and interaction of an animal is key to understanding its general ecology and the dynamics of its community. Conventional techniques, such as stomach content analysis, used to elucidate diet are not suitable for large threatened marine species. Non-lethal biochemical methods provide a practical alternative for investigatin...

The reef manta ray Manta alfredi aggregates at several sites along the east coast of Australia. Photographic identification and mark–recapture methods were used to report on the site affinity, size and structure of this population of M. alfredi. A total of 716 individuals were identified in 1982–2012, including 636 at Lady Elliot Island (LEI), sout...

full text can be found at http://www.panthera.org/sites/default/files/Mini_hydel_Oryx_Oct2013.pdf

Fatty acid (FA) signature analysis has been increasingly used to assess dietary preferences and trophodynamics in marine animals. We investigated FA signatures of connective tissue of the whale shark Rhincodon typus and muscle tissue of the reef manta ray Manta alfredi. We found high levels of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), dominated by ar...

Mobulid rays (family Mobulidae) are epipelagic zooplanktivores separated into two genera, Manta (2 species) and Mobula (9 species). Despite their economic importance in the tourism industry, mobulid rays currently face severe fisheries pressures worldwide which threatens the survival of many populations. These rays are considered long-lived and hav...

Correlation matrix for continuous predictors included in the generalised additive models. Each value is indicative of the degree of cross-correlation between predictors. (PDF)

Manta rays Manta alfredi are present all year round at Lady Elliot Island (LEI) in the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia, with peaks in abundance during autumn and winter. Drivers influencing these fluctuations in abundance of M. alfredi at the site remain uncertain. Based on daily count, behavioural, weather and oceanographic data collected o...

The spinetail devilray Mobula japanica was recorded for the first time in the south-eastern Pacific Ocean, from a single beach-washed specimen examined at Bahía Inglesa, Chile. The presence of this temperate-tropical species at about 278 south of its previously recorded range in the eastern Pacific Ocean may be explained by the absence of rigorous...

Despite the increasing tourism interest worldwide for the manta ray, Manta alfredi, very little is known about its biology and ecology. Knowledge of its distribution and movement patterns is important for conservation purposes. Here we describe the distribution, site visitation and movements of M. alfredi along the east coast of Australia. Photogra...

Corresponding publication is Couturier et al. Distribution, site affinity and regional movements of the manta ray, Manta alfredi (Krefft, 1868), along the east coast of Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research. 62, 628-637