Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Wyneken, Jeanette

Abstract

Investigation of the spatio-temporal movements of leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) and ocean sunfishes (family Molidae), as well as analyses of their prey, support the hypothesis that they may occupy similar ecological niches. This study examined the spatial and temporal occurrences of sunfishes (Mola mola and Masturus lanceolatus) and leatherbacks in the western Atlantic Ocean and assessed dietary overlap. Analyses of leatherback and sunfish distributions, estimated from aerial surveys, showed greater spatial and temporal overlap along the Northeast coast of North America than in the Gulf of Mexico. Both species co-occur more often during warmer months. Pelagic longline fisheries bycatch data and aerial survey data revealed slightly different trends in spatio-temporal distributions. Nematocysts found within gastrointestinal tract contents of stranded animals indicate that they may feed on similar prey, including cnidarians in the classes Scyphozoa, Hydrozoa, and Cubozoa.

Extent

104 p.

Comments

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2005.|Charles E. Schmidt College of Science|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2005.

Identifier

FADT13225

Format

pdf

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