Lear et al.: Fine-scale behavior and habitat use of Pristispectinata 
349 
developments are likely to have substantial, cumulative 
negative effects. Additionally, the high site fidelity of juve¬ 
niles (Poulakis et al., 2016; Huston et al., 2017) means 
that these fish must cope with a wide range of environ¬ 
mental conditions (Poulakis et al., 2011, 2013), including 
extreme weather events (Scharer et al., 2017; Poulakis 
and Grubbs, 2019). 
Acoustic tracking and monitoring of smalltooth saw¬ 
fish in nursery habitats has provided valuable infor¬ 
mation regarding the long-term horizontal movement 
patterns of these animals (e.g., Simpfendorfer et al., 2011; 
Poulakis et al., 2013; Scharer et al., 2017); for example, 
this technique has been used to identify hotspots that 
represent the most productive habitats within nurseries 
(Poulakis et al., 2011,2013; Huston et al., 2017). However, 
acoustic monitoring provides information only about the 
use of horizontal space by individuals, and as a result, 
little is known about the behavior of smalltooth saw¬ 
fish or why they use specific microhabitats within their 
nurseries. One method of determining such fine-scale 
behavioral patterns is to use acceleration data-loggers 
(ADLs), which in recent years have been proven to be 
effective in linking behavior and physiology of species 
similar to the smalltooth sawfish (Gleiss et al., 2017; 
Whitney et al., 2018). This technology can be used to 
produce information about behavior and activity pat¬ 
terns without the need to continuously track or observe 
individuals. 
In this study, to determine fine-scale habitat use and 
behavioral patterns, we deployed triaxial ADLs and 
acoustic transmitters concurrently on juvenile small¬ 
tooth sawfish in the Peace River, Florida, one of the 
known nurseries for this species. Behavioral and activ¬ 
ity patterns measured by the ADLs were examined in 
combination with horizontal movement patterns mea¬ 
sured by the acoustic transmitters, and the results of 
this analysis provide information on how smalltooth 
sawfish used specific habitats and depth ranges within 
this nursery. 
Materials and methods 
Between May 2014 and November 2015, 10 smalltooth 
sawfish were caught in gill nets with 152-mm stretch 
meshes in the Peace River (Fig. 1). Nets were set for 
1 h and constantly monitored. As soon as a sawfish was 
caught, it was carefully removed from the net, measured 
for stretch total length (STL) in millimeters, and tagged. 
All individuals were tagged with 1 ADL and at least 
26°58'N 
26°57'N 
26°56'N 
Figure 1 
Map of the study area in the Peace River, Florida, showing locations (gray stars) where smalltooth 
sawfish (Pristis pectinata) were captured and tagged with acceleration data loggers and acoustic 
transmitters between May 2014 and November 2015 and some of the locations where acoustic 
receivers were deployed. The receivers shown were part of an array of 35 receivers in the Peace 
River. Locations where receivers were deployed in areas used by smalltooth sawfish were desig¬ 
nated as either creeks lined with red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) (black squares) or habitats 
in the main stem of the river (black circles). Gray squares and circles indicate receivers that did 
not detect individuals tagged in this study. 
