Movement ecology of a mobile predatory fish reveals limited habitat linkages within a temperate estuarine seascape

Large predatory fishes, capable of traveling large distances, can facilitate energy flow linkages among spatially separated habitat patches via extended foraging behaviors over large areas. Here, we tested this concept by tracking the movement of a large mobile estuarine fish, red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). Specifically, we addressed the following questions: 1) What are the spatial and temporal patterns of red drum movement (rates of dispersal) and activity space? and 2) Does red drum movement facilitate linkages among estuarine marsh complexes? Dispersal from the release location was greatest during the first two weeks at liberty before declining to less than 0.5 km/week for the remainder of the study. Activity space initially also increased rapidly before reaching an asymptote at 2.5 kmThe accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author