LabEx Corail and ISEA, Université de La Nouvelle-Calédonie, BP R4, 98851, Nouméa Cedex, New Caledonia.
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2020 Jul 9;10(1):11346. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-68342-2.
Tidal cycles are known to affect the ecology of many marine animals, but logistical obstacles have discouraged behavioural studies on sea snakes in the wild. Here, we analyse a large dataset (1,445 observations of 126 individuals) to explore tidally-driven shifts in the behaviour of free-ranging turtle-headed sea snakes (Emydocephalus annulatus, Hydrophiinae) in the Baie des Citrons, New Caledonia. Snakes tended to move into newly-inundated areas with the rising tide, and became more active (e.g. switched from inactivity to mate-searching and courting) as water levels rose. However, the relative use of alternative habitat types was largely unaffected by tidal phase.
潮汛周期已知会影响许多海洋动物的生态，但由于后勤方面的障碍，人们一直未能对野生海蛇的行为进行研究。在这里，我们分析了一个大型数据集（126 条个体的 1445 次观察），以探讨在新喀里多尼亚的 Citrons 湾，自由活动的龟首海蛇（Emydocephalus annulatus，Hydrophiinae）的潮汐驱动行为变化。蛇类随着涨潮而倾向于移动到新淹没的区域，并且随着水位上升变得更加活跃（例如，从不活动状态转变为求偶和交配）。然而，潮汐阶段对替代栖息地类型的相对利用影响不大。
