Tautog were almost exclusively detected during the day and not detected at night. Lack of detection at night was attributed to tautog sleeping inside of structure at night, an activity pattern which is typical of many reef fishes, especially fishes in the Family Labridae of which tautog is a member. Another explanation could be that tautog left the sites and went somewhere else at night. However, since we spent several nights at the study sights, we know that these tautog stayed at the sights at night (we could hear them with the equipment aboard the research vessel). Also, a few tautog regularly remained outside of the structure and were continuously detected by one receiver, but only detected during the day by the other receiver, confirming that these fish did not leave the site at night.

Tautog were usually detected equally well by both receivers indicating that tautog remained close to the structure (see figure for receiver set up). Differences in receiver detection could indicate tautog spent more time in one area of the site (with less acoustic interference) than in other areas of the site.

In general, the height (detections per hour) and width (time of day during which detections occurred) of each series are usually taller and wider in fall and spring than in winter and summer. Because transmitter tags emitted signals at a fairly constant rate (once every 45-75 seconds, roughly once per minute), more detections presumably means more 'active' (i.e., moving about so that acoustic interference is minimal). Furthermore, in winter and during the storm in September 1999 (Hurricane Dennis), it was not unusual to see fish 'hunker down' in the structure for days at a time.