Scientific Papers

First record of living Manta alfredi × Manta birostris hybrid

First record of living Manta alfredi × Manta birostris hybrid

Published on 27. September 2013 First record of living Manta alfredi × Manta birostris hybrid R P Walter, S T Kessel, N Alhasan, A T Fisk, D D Heath, T Chekchak, R Klaus, M Younis, G Hill, B Jones, C D Braun, M L Berumen, J D Dibattista, M A Priest, N E Hussey Following

Two new stingrays from the eastern Indonesian Archipelago

Two new stingrays from the eastern Indonesian Archipelago

Published on 21. October 2013 Two new stingrays (Chondrichthyes: Dasyatidae) from the eastern Indonesian Archipelago Peter R. Last and William T. White ABSTRACT: Two new stingrays, Dasyatis longicauda sp. nov. and Himantura javaensis sp. nov., are described from material collected in the eastern Indonesian Archipelago. These species, which are both relatively small stingrays (both probably

Comparative Feeding Ecology of Bull Sharks in the Southwest Indian Ocean

Comparative Feeding Ecology of Bull Sharks in the Southwest Indian Ocean

Published on 21. October 2013 Comparative Feeding Ecology of Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) in the Coastal Waters of the Southwest Indian Ocean Inferred from Stable Isotope Analysis Ryan Daly, Pierre W. Froneman, Malcolm J. Smale ABSTRACT: As apex predators, sharks play an important role shaping their respective marine communities through predation and associated risk effects.

Demographics and feeding ecology of whale sharks at Mafia Island

Demographics and feeding ecology of whale sharks at Mafia Island

Published on 17. October 2013 Demographics and feeding ecology of whale sharks at Mafia Island, Tanzania Edgar F Cagua​, Jesse Cochran, Chris Rohner, Mathias M Igulu, Jason Rubens, Simon J Pierce, Michael L Berumen ABSTRACT: Background. The Western Indian Ocean is a globally important region for the whale shark Rhincodon typus, with well-studied coastal aggregation

Characterization of the heart transcriptome of the white shark

Characterization of the heart transcriptome of the white shark

Published on 11. October 2013 Characterization of the heart transcriptome of the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) Vincent P Richards, Haruo Suzuki, Michael J Stanhope,  Mahmood S Shivji ABSTRACT: Background The white shark ( Carcharodon carcharias ) is a globally distributed, apex predator possessing physical, physiological, and behavioral traits that have garnered it significant public attention.

Predicting the spatial distribution of the blue-spotted maskray on the Australian North and Northwest Shelf

Predicting the spatial distribution of the blue-spotted maskray on the Australian North and Northwest Shelf

Published in September 2013 Predicting the spatial distribution of the blue-spotted maskray Neotrygon kuhlii (Myliobatiformes, Dasyatidae) on the Australian North and Northwest Shelf comparing two different methods of habitat modeling S. Weigmann, R. Thiel ABSTRACT: Knowledge about distribution and habitat requirements of species is important for analyzing their role in marine ecosystems or establishing sanctuaries.

Sexual Dimorphisms in the Dermal Denticles of the Lesser-Spotted Catshark

Sexual Dimorphisms in the Dermal Denticles of the Lesser-Spotted Catshark

Published on 07. October 2013 Sexual Dimorphisms in the Dermal Denticles of the Lesser-Spotted Catshark, Scyliorhinus canicula (Linnaeus, 1758) Neil Crooks, Lucy Babey, William J. Haddon, Adrian C. Love, Colin P. Waring ABSTRACT: The dermal layers of several elasmobranch species have been shown to be sexually dimorphic. Generally, when this occurs the females have thicker

Chondrocranial Morphology of the Salmon Shark and the Porbeagle

Chondrocranial Morphology of the Salmon Shark and the Porbeagle

Published in September 2013 Chondrocranial Morphology of the Salmon Shark, Lamna ditropis, and the Porbeagle, L. nasus (Lamnidae) John G. Maisey and Victor G. Springer ABSTRACT: Adult chondrocranial morphology is poorly documented in modern lamniform sharks. Here it is described for the two extant species of Lamna, L. nasus and L. ditropis. Several features are

Age-related PCB dynamics in immature bull sharks

Age-related PCB dynamics in immature bull sharks

Accepted manuscript online on 01. October 2013 Age-related PCB dynamics in immature bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas Jill A. Olin, Marina Beaudry, Aaron T. Fisk, Gordon Paterson ABSTRACT: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were quantified in liver tissues of bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) ranging in age from <4 weeks to >3 years old. Summed values of PCBs (ΣPCB)

Temporal changes in some Rajiformes species from the İskenderun Bay, Turkey

Temporal changes in some Rajiformes species from the İskenderun Bay, Turkey

Published online on 04. October 2013 Temporal changes in some Rajiformes species of cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) from the west coast of İskenderun Bay (northeastern Mediterranean) Hacer YELDAN, Dursun AVŞAR, Sinan MAVRUK, Meltem MANAŞIRLI ABSTRACT: Some Rajiformes species among the cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) that are distributed on the west coast of the Gulf of İskenderun were

Impact of Costa Rican longline fishery on its bycatch of sharks

Impact of Costa Rican longline fishery on its bycatch of sharks

Published in October 2013 Impact of Costa Rican longline fishery on its bycatch of sharks, stingrays, bony fish and olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) Derek Dapp, Randall Arauz, James R. Spotila, Michael P. O’Connor ABSTRACT: We used data collected by an observer program to assess the impact of the Costa Rican longline fishery on numbers,

A metabolomic approach to health assessment in the whale shark

A metabolomic approach to health assessment in the whale shark

Published online on 02. October 2013 A metabolomic approach to health assessment in the whale shark, Rhincodon typus Alistair D Dove​, Johannes Leisen, Manshui Zhou, Jonathan Byrne, Harry Webb, Les Gelbaum, Mark Viant, Julia Kubanek, Facundo Fernandez ABSTRACT: Background. No studies have evaluated the biochemistry of whale sharks. The illness of two animals in the

Population structure of whale sharks occurring in the waters of Oslob– Cebu

Population structure of whale sharks occurring in the waters of Oslob– Cebu

Published online on 30. September 2013 Describing the population structure of Rhincodon typus occurring in the waters of Oslob– Cebu, Philippines– between March 2012 and June 2013, during the provisioning interaction hours Gonzalo Araujo​, Alessandro Ponzo, Daniel Geary, Samantha Craven, Sally J Snow, Anna R Lucey ABSTRACT: Background: Prior to this study, the aggregation of

Whale Shark Provisioning: What do we know and where do we stand

Whale Shark Provisioning: What do we know and where do we stand

Published online on 30. September 2013 Whale Shark Provisioning: What do we know and where do we stand; The case study of Oslob, Philippines Alessandro Ponzo​, Gonzalo Araujo, Jessica Labaja, Catherine L. So, Sally J. Snow, Daniel Geary, Samantha Craven, Anna R. Lucey ABSTRACT: Background. Provisioning is a growing practice used to facilitate wildlife-tourist interaction,

Avoidance conditioning in bamboo sharks

Avoidance conditioning in bamboo sharks

Published on 01. October 2013 Avoidance conditioning in bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium griseum and C. punctatum): behavioral and neuroanatomical aspects Susanne Schwarze, Horst Bleckmann, Vera Schluessel ABSTRACT: Animals face different threats; to survive, they have to anticipate how to react or how to avoid these. It has already been shown in teleosts that selected regions in