UCT R&I Highlights 2020-21 High res - Flipbook - Page 12
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DECODING THE HORNS
OF THE ‘DEVIL RAY’
The horn-like features of the manta ray earned it the nickname
‘devil fish’. But new research shows they may influence how the fish
communicates.
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UCT JOINS
MISSION ATLANTIC
The global project will shed light on environmental risks posed
and their effects on the Atlantic Ocean ecosystems.
UCT’s Dr Lynne Shannon from the Department
of Biological Sciences will join experts from
Europe, South America and North America to
participate in this global study.
Mission Atlantic is an €11.5 million
initiative funded by one of the European
Union’s (EU) Horizon 2020 programmes. It
aims to identify the current and imminent
environmental impacts from climate
change, natural disasters and human
activities on the Atlantic Ocean systems.
The initiative is the first of its kind
to develop and systematically apply
integrated ecosystem assessments (IEAs)
at the Atlantic basin scale. This unique
approach engages scientists, marine
stakeholders and resource managers,
Michelle Carpenter, a PhD student in the
Department of Biological Sciences, was
involved in the collaborative study with
researchers from Macquarie University,
the University of Papua and the Marine
Megafauna Foundation.
Published in the journal Behavioural
Ecology and Sociobiology, it suggests the
movement of manta ray horns – known as
cephalic lobes – may be important in social
communication or in sensing the local
environment.
Describing a variety of specific lobe
positions and movements in different
behavioural contexts, they say flicks of the
lobe tips were performed more frequently
when rays were facing another individual.
Tight rolling of the lobes was associated
with being followed by others.
While the study shows strong evidence
for mantas using their cephalic lobes for
sensing, Carpenter says that they still need
stronger evidence. This next step will be
carried out by Carpenter and UCT Honours
student Hannah Stewart.
The two will focus on the behaviour of
manta ray populations in Mozambique
– preferably when they aren’t feeding or
being cleaned, which will be no mean feat.
“The thing with animal behaviour is
there’s so much going on, so [many] stimuli
around them. The challenge is isolating [a]
certain stimulus,” Carpenter said.
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and incorporates all components of the
ecosystem – including human activity – into
the decision-making process.
Through this, project managers and
policymakers will be entirely informed by
science and will be able to balance the need
for environmental protection with secure,
sustainable development.
“We are excited to undertake IEAs that
build upon some of the initial ecological
and climate risk assessments previously
done in the region,” Shannon said.
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