This program tracks barracuda and snappers in Cross Harbour on Abaco Island in the Bahamas. Below is a series of maps that show different movement patterns of tagged fishes. At the bottom of the page is list of individual fishes. Find your fish and follow the link to see what your fish has been doing lately. Please contact Craig Layman (cal1634@yahoo.com) if you would like to see a more recent update on your particular fishes’ whereabouts and movement. For more information about this project, please see our Project Description.

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How to Use the Maps
On all maps be sure to press the “Start” button in the upper right corner. This will start the fish movement. Yellow dots show where a receiver is located. The receivers “hear” the fish tag when your fish is in the area. The red dot indicates that your fish is near that receiver. If no dots are red, then your fish is not near any of the receivers. You can speed up or slow down the maps with the arrows next to the Start button.

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Map 1 – This Little Fishy Stayed Home
Let’s start with the simplest map possible. This gray snapper moves very little at all. He was tagged in a deep hole, called “Yellow Hole,” just upstream of the causeway. He rarely leaves his “home”. He must be feeding on small fishes, such as mojarra (“shad” in the Bahamas), that swim by and end up as dinner for the snapper. Click here to see this fish move.

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Map 2 – This Little Fishy Went to Market
Other snappers swim away from their “home” almost every day to feed. This map shows a cubera snapper swimming upstream to feed at nighttime. This fish is probably feeding on juvenile blue crabs that are found near receiver 1. Notice how this fish stays at “home” during the day, but is near receivers 1 and 2 at night. Click here to see this fish move.

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Map 3 – Fast Food Take Out
Many snappers have nighttime feeding behaviors, but not all move in the same way or to the same place. This map shows a cubera snapper that swims to the culverts to feed at night. He is likely feeding on silversides, anchovies, and mojarra that gather where the creek flows under the road. All of these fish in one place makes for any easy meal! Different feeding behaviors within the same species may be an example of “foraging specialization.” (One of the studies in the Layman Lab at Florida International University). Click here to see this fish move.

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Map 4 – Moving On Out
This fish tracking project was designed in conjunction with a tidal creek restoration project. We opened the channel so that fishes “trapped” above the causeway could move to the wetland downstream. Potentially they could move all the way out to the ocean to reproduce. This link shows a barracuda tagged upstream that quickly moved through the culverts and out to the ocean. Click here to see this fish move.

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Map 5 – Moving On Up
Other fish were tagged downstream, but moved upstream of the causeway. This fish probably discovered plentiful invertebrates (crabs, shrimp, or snails) and fish that have grown after the tidal flow was restored. This fish spends much of its time below the causeway, but notice how it moved through the culverts upstream on May 16, 2007. Click here to see this fish move.

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Map 6 – Seeing the Big Picture
This restoration project has allowed fish to move both upstream and downstream, returning this system to normal conditions. Some of the most exciting fish were tagged upstream but now move back and forth from upstream to the ocean. These fishes clearly show how mangrove wetland habitat and the ocean environment are connected. This map is longer and may take a couple of minutes to view. Click here to see this fish move.

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Track Your Fish!
Below is a complete list of all individual fishes’ movements. Please contact Craig Layman (cal1634@yahoo.com) if you would like to see a more recent update on your particular fishes’ whereabouts and movement.

Continuous Short-term Fish Movements
The following maps show all recorded locations of the individual fish during the specified time period. The transmitter pings approximately every 2 minutes, so these maps give an excellent idea of the fishes continuous, short term movements.