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Using citizen science photographs to identify reproductive events in an oviparous elasmobranch

Rachel Mawer Orcid Logo, Jane Dodd, James Thorburn, Neil M. Burns, David M. Bailey

Journal of Fish Biology, Volume: 107, Issue: 2, Pages: 419 - 430

Swansea University Author: Rachel Mawer Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1111/jfb.70044

Abstract

Identifying critical habitats is important for the effective management of vulnerable species. Critical habitats, such as mating or nursery grounds, support populations during key life stages and help to maximise reproductive output and population growth. In elasmobranchs, mating often happens over...

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Published in: Journal of Fish Biology
ISSN: 0022-1112 1095-8649
Published: Wiley 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71539
first_indexed 2026-03-04T16:01:35Z
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spelling 2026-04-09T15:20:20.4154728 v2 71539 2026-03-04 Using citizen science photographs to identify reproductive events in an oviparous elasmobranch b326ca8a689948f5f72cea5d46cf2194 0009-0003-0114-9691 Rachel Mawer Rachel Mawer true false 2026-03-04 BGPS Identifying critical habitats is important for the effective management of vulnerable species. Critical habitats, such as mating or nursery grounds, support populations during key life stages and help to maximise reproductive output and population growth. In elasmobranchs, mating often happens over a defined season, suggesting sites associated with this process may only require temporal protection. However, knowledge gaps on such sites exist for many elasmobranchs due to the challenges associated with identifying temporal mating periods, which hinders conservation efforts. Here, we investigated the application of photographs to estimate reproductive timing in an oviparous elasmobranch, the flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius), as a non-invasive and low-cost alternative to other approaches. Using a pre-existing citizen science photo-ID database of over 2000 images, we identified signs of reproductive behaviour: the presence or absence of pelvic swelling, bite wounds and scratch wounds. Statistical models were created for each feature to explore seasonal trends and other parameters explaining their presence. Seasonal trends were present for all features and feature occurrence differed with sex. The occurrence of bite wounds and pelvic swelling in flapper skate peaked over winter and spring months, suggesting a winter–spring mating and egg-laying period. These results are corroborated by previous reproductive research on the flapper skate, suggesting the applied method is a valid tool to estimate reproductive timing in an elusive elasmobranch. The approach could be applied to other flapper skate populations and other elasmobranch species, helping to close existing knowledge gaps on reproductive behaviours. Journal Article Journal of Fish Biology 107 2 419 430 Wiley 0022-1112 1095-8649 citizen science, critical habitats, flapper skate, Rajidae, reproductive cycle 18 8 2025 2025-08-18 10.1111/jfb.70044 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee NatureScot 2026-04-09T15:20:20.4154728 2026-03-04T14:27:21.3568971 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Rachel Mawer 0009-0003-0114-9691 1 Jane Dodd 2 James Thorburn 3 Neil M. Burns 4 David M. Bailey 5 71539__36483__60564bbbbae847f6a8bc391de3a55fd2.pdf 71539.VoR.pdf 2026-04-09T15:18:41.8615455 Output 5130883 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Using citizen science photographs to identify reproductive events in an oviparous elasmobranch
spellingShingle Using citizen science photographs to identify reproductive events in an oviparous elasmobranch
Rachel Mawer
title_short Using citizen science photographs to identify reproductive events in an oviparous elasmobranch
title_full Using citizen science photographs to identify reproductive events in an oviparous elasmobranch
title_fullStr Using citizen science photographs to identify reproductive events in an oviparous elasmobranch
title_full_unstemmed Using citizen science photographs to identify reproductive events in an oviparous elasmobranch
title_sort Using citizen science photographs to identify reproductive events in an oviparous elasmobranch
author_id_str_mv b326ca8a689948f5f72cea5d46cf2194
author_id_fullname_str_mv b326ca8a689948f5f72cea5d46cf2194_***_Rachel Mawer
author Rachel Mawer
author2 Rachel Mawer
Jane Dodd
James Thorburn
Neil M. Burns
David M. Bailey
format Journal article
container_title Journal of Fish Biology
container_volume 107
container_issue 2
container_start_page 419
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 0022-1112
1095-8649
doi_str_mv 10.1111/jfb.70044
publisher Wiley
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
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description Identifying critical habitats is important for the effective management of vulnerable species. Critical habitats, such as mating or nursery grounds, support populations during key life stages and help to maximise reproductive output and population growth. In elasmobranchs, mating often happens over a defined season, suggesting sites associated with this process may only require temporal protection. However, knowledge gaps on such sites exist for many elasmobranchs due to the challenges associated with identifying temporal mating periods, which hinders conservation efforts. Here, we investigated the application of photographs to estimate reproductive timing in an oviparous elasmobranch, the flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius), as a non-invasive and low-cost alternative to other approaches. Using a pre-existing citizen science photo-ID database of over 2000 images, we identified signs of reproductive behaviour: the presence or absence of pelvic swelling, bite wounds and scratch wounds. Statistical models were created for each feature to explore seasonal trends and other parameters explaining their presence. Seasonal trends were present for all features and feature occurrence differed with sex. The occurrence of bite wounds and pelvic swelling in flapper skate peaked over winter and spring months, suggesting a winter–spring mating and egg-laying period. These results are corroborated by previous reproductive research on the flapper skate, suggesting the applied method is a valid tool to estimate reproductive timing in an elusive elasmobranch. The approach could be applied to other flapper skate populations and other elasmobranch species, helping to close existing knowledge gaps on reproductive behaviours.
published_date 2025-08-18T05:51:48Z
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