Scientific Papers

The megamouth shark is not a luminous species

The megamouth shark is not a luminous species

The megamouth shark, Megachasma pelagios, is not a luminous species Laurent Duchatelet, Victoria C. Moris, Taketeru Tomita, Jacques Mahillon, Keiichi Sato, Catherine Behets, Jérôme Mallefet ABSTRACT: Despite its five meters length, the megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios Taylor, Compagno & Struhsaker, 1983) is one of the rarest big sharks known in the world (117 specimens observed

Bull shark with an intentionally attached harness rig

Bull shark with an intentionally attached harness rig

Escaped bait: Bull shark Carcharhinus leucas with an intentionally attached harness rig Jayne M. Gardiner, Tonya R. Wiley ABSTRACT: A 193 cm total length female bull shark Carcharhinus leucas was captured in Florida bearing intentionally attached materials which resembled a harness. Harness‐type live bait rigs are commonly used for small baitfish; some anglers use such devices

Distribution and length composition of lemon sharks in a nursery ground in southern Cuba

Distribution and length composition of lemon sharks in a nursery ground in southern Cuba

Distribution and length composition of lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) in a nursery ground in southern Cuba Ruiz-Abierno, A., Márquez-Farías, J.F., Hueter, R.E. et al. ABSTRACT: Characterization of essential habitat for sharks is a key requirement for effective conservation of shark populations. In Cuba, shark essential habitat is largely undocumented. Here we present the first study

Comparative morphology of labial cartilages in sharks

Comparative morphology of labial cartilages in sharks

Comparative morphology of labial cartilages in sharks (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) C. Klimpfinger & J. Kriwet ABSTRACT: During the last years, feeding mechanisms of sharks have been documented mainly based on their stomach contents supplemented by video footages of feeding behaviours in some species. Rare kinematic analyses of shark jaws contributed additionally to our knowledge. However, not

Thermal strategy of a coral reef flat resident, the epaulette shark

Thermal strategy of a coral reef flat resident, the epaulette shark

Regulate or tolerate: Thermal strategy of a coral reef flat resident, the epaulette shark, Hemiscyllium ocellatum Tiffany J Nay, Rohan J Longbottom, Connor R Gervais, Jacob L Johansen, John F Steffensen, Jodie L Rummer, Andrew S Hoey ABSTRACT: Highly variable thermal environments, such as coral reef flats, are challenging for marine ectotherms and are thought

Novel use of pop-up satellite archival telemetry in sawsharks

Novel use of pop-up satellite archival telemetry in sawsharks

Novel use of pop-up satellite archival telemetry in sawsharks: insights into the movement of the common sawshark Pristiophorus cirratus (Pristiophoridae) Patick J. Burke, Johann Mourier, Troy F. Gaston, Jane E. Williamson ABSTRACT: Background Understanding movement patterns of a species is vital for optimising conservation and management strategies. This information is often difficult to obtain in

Understanding Sharks in Hawaiian Culture

Understanding Sharks in Hawaiian Culture

Pua ka wiliwili, nanahu ka manō: Understanding Sharks in Hawaiian Culture Noelani Puniwai ABSTRACT: Kanaka Maoli (Indigenous Hawaiians) are blessed with a written literature that documents observations and relationships with their environment in the form of chants, stories, and genealogies passed down orally for centuries. These literatures connect them to their ancestral knowledge and highlight

Age, Growth, and Sexual Maturity of the Crocodile Shark

Age, Growth, and Sexual Maturity of the Crocodile Shark

Age, Growth, and Sexual Maturity of the Crocodile Shark, Pseudocarcharias kamoharai, From the Eastern Atlantic Ocean Richard Kindong, Haozhan Wang, Feng Wu, Xiaojie Dai, Siquan Tian ABSTRACT: To better manage fish stocks, fisheries scientists use various data, including age and growth, to inform stock assessments and provide management advice. However, many non-targeted species, important to

The power struggle: assessing interacting global change stressors via experimental studies on sharks

The power struggle: assessing interacting global change stressors via experimental studies on sharks

The power struggle: assessing interacting global change stressors via experimental studies on sharks Ian A. Bouyoucos, Sue-Ann Watson, Serge Planes, Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Gail D. Schwieterman, Nicholas M. Whitney & Jodie L. Rummer ABSTRACT: Ocean warming and acidification act concurrently on marine ectotherms with the potential for detrimental, synergistic effects; yet, effects of these stressors

Inferring Life History Characteristics of the Oceanic Whitetip Shark From Vertebral Bomb Radiocarbon

Inferring Life History Characteristics of the Oceanic Whitetip Shark From Vertebral Bomb Radiocarbon

Inferring Life History Characteristics of the Oceanic Whitetip Shark Carcharhinus longimanus From Vertebral Bomb Radiocarbon Michelle S. Passerotti, Allen H. Andrews, Lisa J. Natanson ABSTRACT: Oceanic whitetip sharks Carcharhinus longimanus are a cosmopolitan epipelagic species that was once prolific throughout the tropics and subtropics but was recently listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union

Angel sharks: A review of biological knowledge and exploitation

Angel sharks: A review of biological knowledge and exploitation

Angel sharks (Squatinidae): A review of biological knowledge and exploitation Jim R. Ellis, Joanna Barker, Sophy R. McCully Phillips, Eva K. M. Meyers, Michelle Heupel ABSTRACT: Angel sharks (Squatina spp.) are distributed in warm temperate to tropical waters around the world. Many species occur in shelf seas and exhibit seasonal inshore‐offshore migrations, moving inshore to

Cell culture-based karyotyping of orectolobiform sharks for chromosome-scale genome analysis

Cell culture-based karyotyping of orectolobiform sharks for chromosome-scale genome analysis

Cell culture-based karyotyping of orectolobiform sharks for chromosome-scale genome analysis Yoshinobu Uno, Ryo Nozu, Itsuki Kiyatake, Nobuyuki Higashiguchi, Shuji Sodeyama, Kiyomi Murakumo, Keiichi Sato, Shigehiro Kuraku ABSTRACT: Karyotyping, traditionally performed using cytogenetic techniques, is indispensable for validating genome assemblies whose sequence lengths can be scaled up to chromosome sizes using modern methods. Karyotype reports of

Variation of body condition and plasma energy substrates with life stage, sex, and season in wild‐sampled nurse sharks

Variation of body condition and plasma energy substrates with life stage, sex, and season in wild‐sampled nurse sharks

Variation of body condition and plasma energy substrates with life stage, sex, and season in wild‐sampled nurse sharks Ginglymostoma cirratum Shannon G. Moorhead, Austin J. Gallagher, Liza Merly, Neil Hammerschlag ABSTRACT: Reported here are the relationships among morphological (i.e., body condition) and biochemical (i.e., plasma concentrations of triglycerides, cholesterol, free fatty acids, and ketone bodies

A new synapomorphy in the pelvic girdle reinforces a close relationship of Zanobatus and Myliobatiformes

A new synapomorphy in the pelvic girdle reinforces a close relationship of Zanobatus and Myliobatiformes

A new synapomorphy in the pelvic girdle reinforces a close relationship of Zanobatus and Myliobatiformes (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea) João Paulo Capretz Batista da Silva, Thiago Silva Loboda, Ricardo de Souza Rosa ABSTRACT: The rays of the order Myliobatiformes present several diagnostic characters, the most striking one being the presence of a serrated sting on the dorsal

The current knowledge gap on metallothionein mediated metal-detoxification in Elasmobranchs

The current knowledge gap on metallothionein mediated metal-detoxification in Elasmobranchs

The current knowledge gap on metallothionein mediated metal-detoxification in Elasmobranchs Rachel Ann Hauser-Davis​ ABSTRACT: Elasmobranchs are particularly vulnerable to environmental contamination, especially pollutants that may bioaccumulate and biomagnify, throughout the trophic web, such as metals. However, Elasmobranch management and conservation plans are challenging, and this group is often neglected regarding ecotoxicological analyses, particularly concerning metal