Research Article

Evidence of a predation event on a tagged Mediterranean spearfish (Tetrapturus belone; Pisces, Istiophoridae), inferred from pop-up satellite tagging data

¹ Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, National Institute of Biology, Ecology and Marine Biotechnology, Via Porticatello n. 29, Pace (Messina) 98167, Italy
² Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, National Institute of Biology, Ecology and Marine Biotechnology, Calabrian Researches Centre and Marine Advanced Infrastructures (CRIMAC), C. da Torre Spaccata, 87071 Amendolara (CS), Italy
³ Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, National Institute of Biology, Ecology and Marine Biotechnology, Rome, Italy
⁴ ISPRA, Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, BIO-CIT, Via dei Mille, 44 Milazzo, Messina, Italy
⁵ Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, National Institute of Biology, Ecology and Marine Biotechnology, Via dei Mille, 44 Milazzo, Italy

^* Corresponding author: pietro.battaglia@szn.it

Handling Editor: Flavia Lucena Fredou

Received: 25 May 2020
Accepted: 13 November 2020

Abstract

The Strait of Messina is located at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea and is considered a biodiversity hotspot and an obligatory seasonal passage for different pelagic species such as sharks, marine mammals, and billfishes. For the first time, in the Strait of Messina, our research group tagged a Mediterranean spearfish (Tetrapturus belone) using a pop-up satellite archival tag (PSAT). The observation of abiotic parameters (depth, light, and temperature) recorded by the PSAT confirmed that the tagged specimen was predated after about nine hours. The tag was then regurgitated 14 days after the tag deployment date. The analysis of collected data seems to indicate that the predator may be an ectothermic shark, most likely the bluntnose sixgill shark (Hexanchus griseus).