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1 September 2002 AN OBSERVATION OF JUVENILE TIGER SHARKS FEEDING ON CLAPPER RAILS OFF THE SOUTHEASTERN COAST OF THE UNITED STATES
John K. Carlson, Mark A. Grace, Paul K. Lago
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Abstract

From September to October 2000, a longline survey conducted aboard the NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service's research vessel FERREL between Ft. Pierce, FL and Charleston, SC resulted in the capture of 72 juvenile tiger sharks, Galeocerdo cuvier, (mean size = 108 cm total length). Twenty-three were found to have large quantities of feathers, both contour and semiplumes, on the teeth and on the outside of the buccal area. An internal examination of 5 individuals found the remains of clapper rail, Rallus longirostris (100% occurrence). Since clapper rails generally inhabit coastal salt marshes and are not considered to be a migratory species, we could not positively ascertain how juvenile tiger sharks, a species normally found in offshore waters, were able to prey on this bird species. Although we cannot explain the sequence of events that brought these species together, it is possible that the birds were swept offshore by storm winds, there was a “mass exodus” from a marsh habitat due to disturbance, or perhaps a dispersal flight.

John K. Carlson, Mark A. Grace, and Paul K. Lago "AN OBSERVATION OF JUVENILE TIGER SHARKS FEEDING ON CLAPPER RAILS OFF THE SOUTHEASTERN COAST OF THE UNITED STATES," Southeastern Naturalist 1(3), 307-310, (1 September 2002). https://doi.org/10.1656/1528-7092(2002)001[0307:AOOJTS]2.0.CO;2
Published: 1 September 2002
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