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With the advancement in technology in recent years it has it become possible to track real time movements of individual fish. We are currently tracking adult spotted seatrout using passive acoustic ultrasonic telemetry that employs an array of stationary receivers to detect signals from fish affixed with uniquely coded transmitters. These have become a widely used method of recording habitat usage and movement patterns of fish.
The goals of this study are to 1) evaluate surgical procedures, including placement of incision and suture material, for acoustic transmitter implantation in spotted seatrout; 2) surgically tag wild caught spotted seatrout to document their large-scale movement patterns and residency times between south Texas bay and nearshore waters.
Surgical evaluations were successfully completed in the summer of 2009 and effective surgical procedures have been established. Wild caught trout are captured and tagged in the field and released after a brief observation and evaluation period.
Seventy-nine spotted seatrout have been tagged in the Upper and Lower Laguna Madre (including Baffin Bay) and nearshore (surf) waters, and we plan to tag a total of 80 fish. These fish are carrying an internal acoustic transmitter, and also have a green external dart tag near their dorsal fin. If you catch one of these tagged fish, PLEASE RELEASE IT to allow continued data collection. Please DO NOT REMOVE THE GREEN DART TAG! Please note that over time the green external tag may accumulate algal growth and will need to be cleaned off to obtain pertinent information. There are a number of substantial REWARDS (rods, cash, and other prizes) available to anglers who release the fish back into the wild and contact the researchers with capture information. We ask that anyone who catches a tagged fish please call the number listed on the green dart tag (or email us) and report the tag number, date, general location of capture, and your contact information. We appreciate the continued support we have received from local recreational guides, live release tournaments, and anglers. For more information please contact Dr. Greg Stunz at
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Summary of tagged spotted seatrout
Updated 11/14/11
The following table is a summary of the number of fish tagged and detected as of 11/14/2011. The number detected on receivers only includes data which reliably indicates fish survival and/or movement. For example, a reliable fish detection would be if the fish signal was received at one location intermittently or at multiple locations over the course of weeks to months. The total number of detections is the total number of individual "hits" within the listening array. Each hit provides the unique fish identification number and the date and time of detection. To date, we have 70% known survival of spotted seatrout that have undergone surgical implantation, which includes both recaptured fish and acoustic signal detections. The figure below shows the survival for each group tagged. Please note, this is preliminary information and data collection will continue through 2012. This website will be updated as data collection continues. Last data downloads were completed May 2011.
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