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Spike dives of juvenile southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii): a navigational role?
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 02:05 authored by Willis, J, Phillips, J, Muheim, R, Diego-Rasilla, FJ, Hobday, AJTunas make sharp descents and ascents around dawn and dusk called spike dives. We examine spike dives of 21 southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) implanted with archival tags in the Great Australian Bight. Using a new way to categorize this behavior, we show that spike dives are similar among all the fish in the study. The dive profiles are mirror images at dawn and dusk and are precisely timed with respect to sunrise and sunset. We analyze the possible reasons for spike dives, considering the timing of spike dives, the characteristic dive profile, and the tuna's magnetic habitat. In addition, we present anatomical evidence for elaboration of the pineal organ, which is light mediated and has been implicated in navigation in other vertebrates. The new evidence presented here leads us to suspect that spike dives represent a survey related to navigation.
History
Publication title
Behavioral Ecology and SociobiologyVolume
64Pagination
57-68ISSN
0340-5443Department/School
Institute for Marine and Antarctic StudiesPublisher
Springer-VerlagPlace of publication
175 Fifth Ave, New York, USA, Ny, 10010Rights statement
The original publication is available at www.springerlink.comRepository Status
- Restricted