title: Extreme diving behaviour in devil rays links surface waters and the deep ocean.
abstract: Ecological connections between surface waters and the deep ocean remain poorly studied despite the high biomass of fishes and squids residing at depths beyond the euphotic zone. These animals likely support pelagic food webs containing a suite of predators that include commercially important fishes and marine mammals. Here we deploy pop-up satellite archival transmitting tags on 15 Chilean devil rays (Mobula tarapacana) in the central North Atlantic Ocean, which provide movement patterns of individuals for up to 9 months. Devil rays were considered surface dwellers but our data reveal individuals descending at speeds up to 6.0 m s(-1) to depths of almost 2,000 m and water temperatures <4 °C. The shape of the dive profiles suggests that the rays are foraging at these depths in deep scattering layers. Our results provide evidence of an important link between predators in the surface ocean and forage species occupying pelagic habitats below the euphotic zone in ocean ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA [2].
authors.forename: Simon R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Thorrold
authors.affiliation: 1] IMAR (Institute of Marine Research) at the University of the Azores, Department of Oceanography and Fisheries, Horta 9901-862, Portugal [2] LARSyS-Laboratory of Robotics and Systems in Engineering and Science, Lisboa 1049-001, Portugal [3].
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Afonso
authors.affiliation: 1] IMAR (Institute of Marine Research) at the University of the Azores, Department of Oceanography and Fisheries, Horta 9901-862, Portugal [2] LARSyS-Laboratory of Robotics and Systems in Engineering and Science, Lisboa 1049-001, Portugal [3].
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fontes
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA [2] Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Camrin D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.affiliation: 1] IMAR (Institute of Marine Research) at the University of the Azores, Department of Oceanography and Fisheries, Horta 9901-862, Portugal [2] LARSyS-Laboratory of Robotics and Systems in Engineering and Science, Lisboa 1049-001, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ricardo S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA [2] Massachusetts Marine Fisheries, 1213 Purchase Street, New Bedford, Massachusetts 02740, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Skomal
authors.affiliation: Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Berumen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004242:Diving / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017753:Ecosystem; D012860:Skates, Fish