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Use of Sand Ripples to Enhance Chafing in Caribbean Reef Sharks (Carcharhinus Perezi) and Blacktip Sharks (Carcharhinus Limbatus)
Although chafing—the rubbing of a body on the sea floor—is a common response of sharks to the attachment of irritating sharksuckers Caribbean Reef Sharks and Blacktip Sharks
First documented attack on a live human by a cookiecutter shark
An adult long distance swimmer attempting to cross the Alenuihaha Channel between the Hawaiian islands of Hawai‘i and Maui was twice bitten by a cookiecutter shark
Validating the occurrence of Caribbean reef sharks northern Gulf of Mexico, with a key for sharks
Published on 29 June 2011. Correspondence William B. Driggers III, Eric R. Hoffmayer, Emma L. Hickerson, Timothy L. Martin, Christopher T. Gledhill Among the sharks inhabiting the continental shelf waters of the western North Atlantic Ocean, those within the genus Carcharhinus are the most speciose (Castro 2011). Authoritative sources agree on the presence of twelve
Description of the mechanoreceptive lateral line and electroreceptive ampullary systems in the freshwater whipray, Himantura dalyensis
Published on 24 June 2011. Teagan A. Marzullo, Barbara E. Wueringer, Lyle Squire Jnr and Shaun P. Collin. ABSTRACT: Mechanoreceptive and electroreceptive anatomical specialisations in freshwater elasmobranch fishes are largely unknown. The freshwater whipray, Himantura dalyensis, is one of a few Australian elasmobranch species that occur in low salinity (oligohaline) environments. The distribution and morphology
From hunters to nature observers: a record of 53 years of diver attitudes towards sharks and rays and marine protected areas
Published on 24 June 2011. Sally Whatmough, Ingrid Van Putten and Andrew Chin. ABSTRACT: Human values, perceptions, attitudes and interactions with the natural environment have been found to change over time, with social and economic information used to inform management decisions and actions. Content analysis is applied here to a 53-year long collection of the
Changing patterns of shark attacks in Australian waters
Published on 24 June 2011. John G. West ABSTRACT: Although infrequent, shark attacks attract a high level of public and media interest, and often have serious consequences for those attacked. Data from the Australian Shark Attack File were examined to determine trends in unprovoked shark attacks since 1900, particularly over the past two decades. The
Subjective judgement in data subsetting: implications for CPUE standardisation and stock assessment of non-target chondrichthyans
Published on June 24 2011. J. M. Braccini, M.-P. Etienne and S. J. D. Martel. ABSTRACT: Standardisation of catch-per-effort (CPUE) data is an essential component for nearly all stock assessments. The first step in CPUE standardisation is to separate the comparable from the non-comparable catch and effort records and this is normally done based on
Are spatial closures better than size limits for halting the decline of the North Sea thornback ray, Raja clavata?
Published on 24 June 2011. Jessica Wiegand, Ewan Hunter and Nicholas K. Dulvy. ABSTRACT: A key challenge of the ecosystem approach to fisheries management is to sustain viable populations of large-bodied less-productive vulnerable elasmobranchs that are the by-catch of fisheries that target more productive species. The North Sea population of the thornback ray (Raja clavata)
Evaluating catch and mitigating risk in a multispecies, tropical, inshore shark fishery within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area
Published on 24 June 2011. Alastair V. Harry, Andrew J. Tobin, Colin A. Simpfendorfer, David J. Welch, Amos Mapleston, Jimmy White, Ashley J. Williams and Jason Stapley. ABSTRACT: Small-scale and artisanal fisheries for sharks exist in most inshore, tropical regions of the world. Although often important in terms of food security, their low value and
Reducing the environmental impact of shark-control programs: a case study from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Published on 24 June 2011. Geremy Cliff and Sheldon F. J. Dudley. ABSTRACT: Large-scale shark-control programs at popular beaches in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia, and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, provide protection against shark attack. Although these programs have enhanced bathing safety, reducing the environmental impacts of decades of fishing for large sharks and
Evaluation and use of a portable field kit for measuring whole-blood lactate in sharks
Published on 24 June 2011. C. A. Awruch, C. Simpfendorfer and N. W. Pankhurst. ABSTRACT: Measurement of lactate is becoming a common procedure in assessing the physiological effects of capture stress in sharks, although the necessity to measure the concentrations in the laboratory limits the ability for field assessments. Portable lactate analysers offer an alternative,
Decadal trends in shark catches and effort from the New South Wales, Australia, Shark Meshing Program 1950–2010
Published on 24 June 2011. D. D. Reid, W. D. Robbins and V. M. Peddemors. ABSTRACT: The New South Wales (NSW) government has operated a program of netting beaches for the protection of swimmers and surfers against shark attack since 1937 in Sydney, and since 1949 in Newcastle and Wollongong. The scope and directives of
Wet-season effects on the distribution of juvenile pigeye sharks, Carcharhinus amboinensis, in tropical nearshore waters
Published on 24 June 2011. Danielle M. Knip, Michelle R. Heupel, Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Andrew J. Tobin and James Moloney. ABSTRACT: Tropical nearshore environments are highly dynamic systems owing to extreme freshwater flow and flooding episodes that occur in wet-season months. We hypothesised that juvenile sharks in tropical nearshore waters respond to seasonal freshwater inflow
Abundance, habitat use and movement patterns of the shovelnose guitarfish (Rhinobatos productus) in a restored southern California estuary
Published on 24 June 2011. Thomas J. Farrugia, Mario Espinoza and Christopher G. Lowe. ABSTRACT: Coastal elasmobranchs such as the shovelnose guitarfish (Rhinobatos productus) seasonally use bays and estuaries for mating, pupping and feeding. However, many human-populated coastal areas have been developed, making them unavailable to coastal fish populations. The Full Tidal Basin (FTB) of
Fine-scale spatial and seasonal partitioning among large sharks and other elasmobranchs in south-eastern Queensland, Australia
Published on 24 June 2011. Stephen Taylor, Wayne Sumpton and Tony Ham. ABSTRACT: Our understanding of the ecological role of larger elasmobranchs is limited by a lack of information on their spatial and seasonal abundance. Analysis of 14 years of gill-net catch data in south-eastern Queensland, Australia, revealed that the species composition of large sharks