Understanding the prevalence of foraging specialisation, fasting and herbivory to improve conservation of the globally threatened whale shark
| Project/Area Number |
19K16224
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 45040:Ecology and environment-related
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
WYATT Alexander 東京大学, 大気海洋研究所, 特任研究員 (70748920)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2020-03-31
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| Project Status |
Discontinued (Fiscal Year 2019)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000)
Fiscal Year 2020: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000)
Fiscal Year 2019: ¥2,990,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥690,000)
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| Keywords | whale shark / Rhincodon typus / foraging / fasting / herbivory / stable isotope / amino acid / trophic position / Rhicodon typus / isotope / ジンベエザメ / 安定同位体 |
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| Outline of Research at the Start |
The objective of this research is to clarify several mysteries surrounding the critically threatened whale shark; simply put ‘where and on what does the world’s largest fish feed?’. The research will quantify the global prevalence of foraging specialisation, fasting and herbivory, and thereby make pioneering inroads into understanding that is essential for efforts to conserve this globally threatened species by identifying prey sources and spatial scales relevant to management.
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Research achievements during the ~5 months of the grant included:
- travel to present and interact with international collaborators at the 5th International Whale Shark Conferences in Exmouth, Western Australia;
- planning meetings with international collaborators for global sample procurement and analysis;
- reconnaissance field work at the whale shark aggregation at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia;
- procurement of supplies and equipment for field sampling and laboratory analysis; and
- collation of whale shark samples for compound-specific isotope analysis of amino acids.
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Report
(1 results)
Research Products
(1 results)
