Residency and Use of An Important Nursery Habitat, Raja Ampat’s Wayag Lagoon, by Juvenile Reef Manta Rays (Mobula Alfredi)

Using an integrated approach combining photo-identification, satellite telemetry, and passive acoustic telemetry, this study provides the strongest evidence to date that Wayag Lagoon functions as a critical nursery habitat for juvenile reef manta rays in Raja Ampat. Juveniles showed exceptionally high residency (52–98%), restricted home ranges largely confined within the lagoon, and repeated use of the site over months to years, including potential pupping and secondary nursery functions. No tagged juveniles were detected at other regional aggregation sites, underscoring the lagoon’s unique and irreplaceable role for early life stages. These findings directly informed management actions by strengthening site-specific protection of Wayag Lagoon, highlighting the necessity of explicitly safeguarding nursery habitats within MPA networks to ensure long-term population recovery of this globally vulnerable species.

Authors:

Edy Setyawan, Mark V. Erdmann, Ronald Mambrasar, Abdi W. Hasan, Abraham B. Sianipar, Rochelle Constantine, Ben C. Stevenson, Fabrice R. A. Jaine

Publisher:

Frontiers in Marine Science

Keywords:

movements, coral reefs, marine megafauna, home range, satellite telemetry, passive acoustic telemetry, photo-identification, spatial ecology

Group Species:

Elasmobranch

Species:

Reef manta ray

Scale:

Raja Ampat

Year:

2022