Newton, Kyle C. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1499-0714
Kajiura, Stephen M. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3009-8419
Funding for this research was provided by:
Save Our Seas Foundation (small grant)
American Elasmobranch Society (Henry F. Mollet Research Award)
Friends of Gumbo Limbo (Gordon Gilbert Graduate Scholarship)
PADI Foundation (PADI grant)
Florida Atlantic University (Graduate Grant)
Article History
Received: 5 May 2020
Accepted: 28 August 2020
First Online: 29 September 2020
Compliance with ethical standards
:
: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
: All applicable international, national, and institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All procedures performed in these studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Florida Atlantic University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee under protocols A23-13 and A16-33. Animals were collected pursuant to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Special Activities License SAL 15-1413A-SR.
: Previous work has shown that elasmobranchs (sharks, skates, and rays) can detect magnetic stimuli and might use the Earth’s magnetic field as a navigational cue. However, the specific nature of the geomagnetic cues that elasmobranchs can detect are largely unknown. This study used behavioral conditioning to demonstrate that the yellow stingray, <i>Urobatis jamaicensis</i>, can detect changes in the intensity and inclination angle to the geomagnetic field. These cues change predictably with latitude and are used by other magnetically sensitive species to determine their location during long distance navigation.