Acoustic Telemetry in the Florida Keys

Since the late 1990s, scientists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) have used acoustic telemetry to study the movement of several species along the Florida reef tract. This work has included species such as spiny lobsters (Bertelsen 2013), queen conch (Glazer et al. 2003) and several snapper species (Feeley et al. 2018, Herbig et al. 2019).

Tracking underwater animal movement requires two key components: tagging the animal, and detecting its movements. 
 

For scientists with the South Florida Regional Lab’s Finfish Research Team, tagging methods depend on species and depth. Since 2008, groupers and snappers in the Dry Tortugas – particularly those susceptible to barotrauma, or found in deeper depths – have been captured underwater by divers. A small, specifically programmed acoustic tag is surgically implanted into the fish’s abdomen, the incision is sutured closed, and the fish is released into nearby sheltering habitat.

For fish species in shallower waters, where barotrauma is less of a concern, fish are captured using hook and line and brought to the vessel for tagging. Each acoustic tag transmits a unique identification code, allowing scientists track individual fish over time.

The second component of tracking underwater animal movements involves deploying an array of listening stations. In the Florida Keys, FWC maintains more than 100 acoustic receiver stations across a variety of habitats and depths. These acoustic receivers function similarly to the automated toll systems. As a tagged fish swims within range of an acoustic receiver station, the receiver records the date, time, and unique ID of the tag providing detailed information on movement patterns and habitat use. Our deepest receivers regularly serviced by divers in the Florida Keys is at 150 ft. Receivers deployed deeper than this are retrieved by using a special acoustic release mechanism.

As of March 2026, FWC scientists have tagged over 600 individual reef fish, resulting in millions of animal detections across the waters of the Florida Keys.  Because acoustic tags can last several years and may be detected by receiver arrays maintained by multiple research partners, each tagged animal contributes to a growing, collaborative dataset that extends beyond a single study.

These efforts have provided critical insights to the behavior of more residential species (Keller et al. 2020), invasive species such as lionfish (McCallister et al. 2018) and species that migrate as part of their life history (Feeley et al. 2018), By sharing data across institutions, scientists are uncovering movement patterns that would otherwise remain undetected. For example, nurse sharks tagged at a breeding site in the Dry Tortugas have been documented traveling hundreds of miles before returning to the same location (Pratt et al. 2018). Similarly, acoustic telemetry data from the Florida Keys have contributed to the concept of “movescapes,” helping to describe how multiple marine species navigate and utilize interconnected habitats (Lowerre-Barbieri et al. 2021).

Together, these long-term, collaborative efforts are transforming our understanding of marine ecosystems in the Florida Keys. By revealing how species move, connect, and depend on different habitats, this work provides a stronger scientific foundation for sustainable fisheries management and ecosystem conservation—now and into the future.

Additional Information

• Acoustic Telemetry research
• Western Dry Rocks research
• Hogfish research

References

• Bertelsen RD. 2013. Characterizing daily movements, nomadic movements, and reproductive migrations of Panulirus argus around the Western Sambo Ecological Reserve (Florida, USA) using acoustic telemetry. Fisheries Research 144:91-102.
• Feeley MW, Morley D, Acosta A, Barbera P, Hunt J, Switzer T, Burton M. 2018. Spawning migration movements of mutton snapper in Tortugas, Florida: Spatial dynamics within a marine reserve network. Fisheries Research 204:209-223. 
• Glazer RA, Delgado GA, Kidney JA. 2003. Estimating Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) home ranges using acoustic telemetry: implications for the design of marine fishery reserves. Gulf and Caribbean Research 14(2):79–89.
• Herbig J, Keller J, Morley D, Walter K, Acosta A, Barbera P. 2019. Examining movement patterns of yellowtail snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus, in the Dry Tortugas, Florida. Bulletin of Marine Science 95(1):45-67.
• Keller JA, Herbig JL, Morley D, Wile A, Barbera P, Acosta A. 2020. Grouper tales: Use of acoustic telemetry to evaluate essential fish habitat in the Florida Keys. Marine and Coastal Fisheries
• Lowerre-Barbieri SK, Friess C, Griffin LP, Morley D, Skomal GB, Bickford JW, Hammerschlag N, Rider MJ, Smukall MJ, van Zinnicq Bergmann MPM, Guttridge TL, Kroetz AM, Grubbs RD, Gervasi CL, Rehage J., Poulakis GR, Bassos-Hull K, Gardiner JM, Casselberry GA, … Brownscombe JW. (2021). Movescapes and eco-evolutionary movement strategies in marine fish: Assessing a connectivity hotspot. Fish and Fisheries, 22, 1321–1344.
• McCallister M, Renchen J, Binder B, Acosta A. 2018. Diel activity patterns and movement of invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans/P. miles) in the Florida Keys identified using acoustic telemetry. Gulf and Caribbean Research, 29(1), pp.27-40.
• Pratt HL, Pratt TC, Morley D, Lowerre-Barbieri S, Collins A, Carrier JC, Hart KM, Whitney NM. 2018. Partial migration of the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum, (Bonnaterre), from the Dry Tortugas Islands.  Environmental Biology of Fish 101:515-530.