"Movement Patterns and Site Fidelity of Great Barracuda (Syphraena barracuda) at Two Caribbean Islands"

Great barracuda (Syphraena barracuda) are top predators of tropical marine systems found in a wide range of habitats. Given their wide distribution and abundance, S.barracuda likely play an important ecological role in nearshore ecosystems, yet very few studies exist that quantify their spatial ecology. Tracking of movement patterns via passive acoustic telemetry is being conducted in two locations in the Caribbean with varying habitat types and management status: Culebra, Puerto Rico and Buck Island Reef National Monument in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. To date, 7 (mean length=96.19cm, SD=46.78) and 12 (mean length=101 cm, SD=17.03 ) fish are tagged in Culebra and St. Croix respectively. For Culebra, we have 170,458 reliable detections spanning 17 months, while for St Croix we have 212,195 for 5 months. Preliminary analyses using graph theory show large differences in habitat preference and movement patterns among individual fish. Future analyses will examine movement patterns in relation to habitat types, prey species assemblages, fish size, population density, and ambient environmental conditions such as temperature, tide, and season.