![]() Symbiotic interactions are common in marine ecosystems and are fundamental in regulating the distribution, abundance, and diversity of many taxa. Symbiosis, when considered biologically, describes a physically close and long-term association between two different species. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Ĭompeting interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Funding for open access publication fee if accepted. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.ĭata Availability: All sightings data used in this study is available from !/home.įunding: Author who received the award: G M W Stevens. ![]() Received: FebruAccepted: JPublished: July 14, 2021Ĭopyright: © 2021 Nicholson-Jack et al. PLoS ONE 16(7):Įditor: Johann Mourier, Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, FRANCE birostris, their symbionts, and other fishes in the Maldives. It is hoped these initial findings will serve as the basis for future work into the complex relationships between manta rays and their hitchhikers.Ĭitation: Nicholson-Jack AE, Harris JL, Ballard K, Turner KME, Stevens GMW (2021) A hitchhiker guide to manta rays: Patterns of association between Mobula alfredi, M. birostris, and a mean number of 1.5 ± 0.5 R. Remora were most likely to be present with female M. naucrates host association was identified. naucrates were more likely to be associated with juvenile M. alfredi at cleaning stations, had the highest likelihood of an association with adult E. Spatiotemporal variation in the presence of manta rays was identified as a driver for the occurrence of ephemeral hitchhiker associations. birostris was identified, with sharksucker remora ( Echeneis naucrates) and giant remora ( Remora remora) being the most common, respectively. A variation in the species of hitchhiker associated with M. birostris with hitchhiker species other than those belonging to the family Echeneidae are described. For the first time, associations between M. ![]() birostris throughout the Maldives and investigate the factors which may influence association using generalised linear mixed effects models (GLMM). Here, we explore the spatial and temporal variation in hitchhiker presence with M. ![]() However, the underlying patterns between manta rays, their symbionts, and other hitchhiker species remain elusive. Thus, understanding the associations within marine communities is critical to implementing effective conservation and management. ![]() Species interactions, rather than the species at the individual level, determine the ecological processes that drive community dynamics, support biodiversity and ecosystem health. Manta rays are often sighted in association with an array of smaller hitchhiker fish species, which utilise their hosts as a sanctuary for shelter, protection, and the sustenance they provide. Despite being among the largest and most charismatic species in the marine environment, considerable gaps remain in our understanding of the behavioural ecology of manta rays ( Mobula alfredi, M. ![]()
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