In the published article, there was an error in species identification for Aetobatus narinari (corrected to Aetobatus ocellatus) and for Rhynchobatus laevis (corrected to Rhynchobatus djiddensis).
A correction for Aetobatus narinari to Aetobatus ocellatus has been made to the Abstract section, page 1.
This sentence previously stated: “In contrast, spotted eagle rays (Aetobatus narinari) and blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) were solely observed cruising over the reef without engaging in cleaning interactions (n = 40 and n = 27 respectively).”
The corrected sentence states: “In contrast, spotted eagle rays (Aetobatus ocellatus) and blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) were solely observed cruising over the reef without engaging in cleaning interactions (n = 40 and n = 27 respectively).”
A correction for Aetobatus narinari to Aetobatus ocellatus has been made to the Introduction section, page 2.
This sentence previously stated: “Among those species are mobulid rays (M. alfredi, M. birostris, Mobula kuhlii), stingrays (Megatrygon microps, Taeniurops meyeni, Pateobatis jenkinsii), eagle rays (Aetobatus narinari, Aetomylaeus vespertilio), guitarfish (Rhina ancylostoma), wedgefish (Rhynchobatus australiae, Rhynchobatus djiddensis), whale sharks (R. typus), requiem sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, Carcharhinus leucas, Carcharhinus limbatus, Carcharhinus obscurus, Triaenodon obesus), leopard sharks (Stegostoma tigrinum) and hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) (Marshall, 2008; Guillaume and Séret, 2021; Keeping et al., 2021; Pereira, 2021; Venables et al., 2022).”
The corrected sentence states: “Among those species are mobulid rays (M. alfredi, M. birostris, Mobula kuhlii), stingrays (Megatrygon microps, Taeniurops meyeni, Pateobatis jenkinsii), eagle rays (Aetobatus ocellatus, Aetomylaeus vespertilio), guitarfish (Rhina ancylostoma), wedgefish (Rhynchobatus australiae, Rhynchobatus djiddensis), whale sharks (R. typus), requiem sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, Carcharhinus leucas, Carcharhinus limbatus, Carcharhinus obscurus, Triaenodon obesus), leopard sharks (Stegostoma tigrinum) and hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) (Marshall, 2008; Guillaume and Séret, 2021; Keeping et al., 2021; Pereira, 2021; Venables et al., 2022).”
A correction for Aetobatus narinari to Aetobatus ocellatus has been made to Table 2, page 6.
Table 2
| Behaviour | Description |
|---|---|
| Cruising | General swimming behaviours including slow, straight-line swimming, accelerated swimming, and tilted swimming as described by Klimley et al. (2023). Specific to manta rays, cruising behaviour involves swimming with the mouth closed and cephalic lobes rolled (Jaine et al., 2012; Germanov et al., 2019). |
| Cleaning | Parasitic body cleaning where cleaner fish remove ectoparasites and other unwanted materials from the client’s body (Sazima and Moura, 2000). For sharks, this may involve lowering the caudal fin and assuming an angled position to give cleaners better access to heavily parasitized areas and swimming over the cleaning station repeatedly (Oliver et al., 2011). In some cases, cleaner fish may also enter the mouth of sharks to remove parasites (Ritter and Amin, 2016). For manta rays, cleaning behaviour has been described as the ray reducing its swimming speed when approaching a cleaning station, hovering or circling above the reef and making repeated passes over a cleaning station while being inspected by cleaner fish (Marshall, 2008; Jaine et al., 2012; Kitchen-Wheeler, 2013). In addition, the ray may exhibit stereotypical cleaning postures such as gill flaring, partially open mouth, unfurled cephalic lobes (manta rays) or an angled position in the water column (Marshall, 2008). Similar behaviours have been observed for eagle rays (Aetobatus ocellatus) (Berthe et al., 2016) and smalleye stingrays (Buschmann, J., pers. obs.). Cleaning behaviour also includes self-body cleaning, i.e. "chafing" or rolling the body along the substrate to remove parasites (Smith et al., 2015; Berthe et al., 2016). |
| Reproduction / Courtship | Includes any of the behaviours listed by Klimley et al. (2023) such as group circular swimming, where multiple sharks swim slowly in a circle snout to tail, and paired close swimming, where the male swims next to the female synchronously or the male rapidly chases the female near her tail. For some species (e.g. manta rays), courtship trains have been observed where multiple males chase after a single female, mimicking the beat of the female’s pectoral fins and imitating her movements (Stevens, 2016). In addition to these behaviours, pre-copulatory positioning via body clasping or biting, where the male bites the pectoral fins, torso or tail of the female and rotates his body underneath the female until they are positioned abdomen to abdomen for clasper insertion, are included in this category (Klimley et al., 2023). Paired copulation while swimming, sinking or on the bottom also falls into this category (Klimley et al., 2023). |
| Feeding | Feeding behaviour includes filter-feeding, scavenging and predation (Klimley et al., 2023). For manta rays, feeding behaviours also include funnelling plankton into the mouth with the cephalic fins, chain feeding, piggyback feeding, somersault feeding, cyclone feeding, sideways feeding and bottom feeding (Stevens, 2016). Specific to manta rays, the cephalic lobes are typically unfurled when feeding (Jaine et al., 2012; Kitchen-Wheeler, 2013). Scavenging behaviours include slowly swimming around the bait and inspecting the bait as well as the actual biting and feeding on the bait (Klimley et al., 2023). Predatory behaviours such as ambushing active prey, carrying the prey underwater, lateral headshakes with the carcass between the jaws to remove the bite, electrical debilitation stunning the prey and digging out the prey from the substrate are also included in this category (Klimley et al., 2023). |
| Social behaviours | Following another individual from the same species, circling each other head to tail or investigating another individual with the snout (Klimley et al., 2023). Social behaviours also include schooling, where multiple individuals travel together, aggregating, swimming side by side or swimming by and turning their heads towards each other as they approach (Klimley et al., 2023). In addition, aggressive and defensive behaviours are included in this category. Examples of aggressive behaviour include jaw gaping, stiff and jerky movements, charging, chasing, dominance biting or territorial biting. For defensive behaviours rapid withdrawal, tonic immobility, anti-predatory biting and self-defence biting are included among others. For more detail, please refer to (Klimley et al., 2023). |
Ethogram for sharks, and rays based on Klimley et al. (2023).
This sentence previously stated: “Similar behaviours have been observed for eagle rays (Aetobatus narinari) (Berthe et al., 2016) and smalleye stingrays (Buschmann, J., pers. obs.).”
The corrected sentence states: “Similar behaviours have been observed for eagle rays (Aetobatus ocellatus) (Berthe et al., 2016) and smalleye stingrays (Buschmann, J., pers. obs.).”
A correction for Aetobatus narinari to Aetobatus ocellatus has been made to Table 4, row 4 on page 8.
Table 4
| Common name | Scientific name | Conservation status (IUCN) | Sightings count (OOCAM) | Sightings count (GoProTM) | Sightings count (total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reef manta ray | Mobula alfredi | Vulnerable | 63 | 18 | 81 |
| Smalleye stingray | Megatrygon microps | Data deficient | 58 | 14 | 72 |
| Oceanic manta ray | Mobula birostris | Endangered | 40 | 21 | 61 |
| Spotted eagle ray | Aetobatus ocellatus | Endangered | 30 | 10 | 40 |
| Blacktip shark | Carcharhinus limbatus | Vulnerable | 19 | 8 | 27 |
| Blotched fantail ray | Taeniurops meyeni | Vulnerable | 20 | 1 | 21 |
| Bowmouth guitarfish | Rhina ancylostoma | Critically endangered | 10 | 8 | 18 |
| Shortfin devil ray | Mobula kuhlii | Endangered | 4* | 5* | 9* |
| Jenkins whipray | Pateobatis jenkinsii | Vulnerable | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Scalloped hammerhead shark | Sphyrna lewini | Critically endangered | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Pink whipray | Pateobatis fai | Vulnerable | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grey reef shark | Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos | Endangered | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Whale shark | Rhincodon typus | Endangered | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Whitespotted wedgefish | Rhynchobatus djiddensis | Critically endangered | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 254 | 86 | 340 | ||
Overview of sightings per species for both OOCAM and GoProTM as well as total number of sightings per species.
* Sightings refer to fevers of up to 55 individuals.
The table also includes the current IUCN conservation status for each species (IUCN, 2024).
Bold values represent the sum of the respective data points.
This sentence previously stated: “Aetobatus narinari”
The corrected sentence states: “Aetobatus ocellatus”
A correction for Rhynchobatus laevis to Rhynchobatus djiddensis/smoothnose wedgefish to whitespotted wedgefish has been made to Table 4, row 14 on page 8.
This sentence previously stated: “smoothnose wedgefish”
The corrected sentence states: “whitespotted wedgefish”
A correction for Rhynchobatus laevis to Rhynchobatus djiddensis/smoothnose wedgefish to whitespotted wedgefish has been made to Table 4, row 14 on page 8.
This sentence previously stated: “Rhynchobatus laevis”
The corrected sentence states: “Rhynchobatus djiddensis”
A correction for Rhynchobatus laevis to Rhynchobatus djiddensis/smoothnose wedgefish to whitespotted wedgefish has been made to Section 3.1 Data Summary, second paragraph, page 8.
This sentence previously stated: “These were reef manta rays (n = 63), smalleye stingrays (n = 58), oceanic manta rays (n = 40), spotted eagle rays (n = 30), blotched fantail rays (n = 20), fevers of shortfin devil rays (n = 4, total of 15 individuals), bowmouth guitarfish (n = 10), blacktip sharks (n = 19), Jenkins whiprays (n = 5), pink whiprays (n = 1), scalloped hammerhead sharks (n = 1), grey reef sharks (n = 1), whale sharks (n = 1) and smoothnose wedgefish (n = 1).”
The corrected sentence states: “These were reef manta rays (n = 63), smalleye stingrays (n = 58), oceanic manta rays (n = 40), spotted eagle rays (n = 30), blotched fantail rays (n = 20), fevers of shortfin devil rays (n = 4, total of 15 individuals), bowmouth guitarfish (n = 10), blacktip sharks (n = 19), Jenkins whiprays (n = 5), pink whiprays (n = 1), scalloped hammerhead sharks (n = 1), grey reef sharks (n = 1), whale sharks (n = 1) and whitespotted wedgefish (n = 1).”
A correction for Rhynchobatus laevis to Rhynchobatus djiddensis/smoothnose wedgefish to whitespotted wedgefish has been made to Section 4.1 Elasmobranch Sightings, first paragraph, page 9.
This sentence previously stated: “Pink whiprays, grey reef sharks, whale sharks and smoothnose wedgefish were only observed once.”
The corrected sentence states: “Pink whiprays, grey reef sharks, whale sharks and whitespotted wedgefish were only observed once”
The authors apologize for this error and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated.
Statements
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Summary
Keywords
long-life remote underwater video, RUV, elasmobranchs, Mozambique, cleaning station, hitchhiker, citizen science
Citation
Buschmann J, Roques KG, Davies JS, Dissanayake A and Keeping JA (2025) Corrigendum: Novel approach to studying marine fauna: using long-life remote underwater video cameras to assess occurrence and behaviour of threatened and data-deficient elasmobranch species in southern Mozambique. Front. Mar. Sci. 12:1591254. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1591254
Received
10 March 2025
Accepted
11 March 2025
Published
27 March 2025
Approved by
Frontiers Editorial Office, Lausanne, Switzerland
Volume
12 - 2025
Updates
Copyright
© 2025 Buschmann, Roques, Davies, Dissanayake and Keeping.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Jule Buschmann, jule@alloutafrica.org
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.