Briones-Mendoza, J.; Mejía, D.; Carrasco-Puig, P. Catch Composition, Seasonality, and Biological Aspects of Sharks Caught in the Ecuadorian Pacific. Diversity2022, 14, 599.
Briones-Mendoza, J.; Mejía, D.; Carrasco-Puig, P. Catch Composition, Seasonality, and Biological Aspects of Sharks Caught in the Ecuadorian Pacific. Diversity 2022, 14, 599.
Briones-Mendoza, J.; Mejía, D.; Carrasco-Puig, P. Catch Composition, Seasonality, and Biological Aspects of Sharks Caught in the Ecuadorian Pacific. Diversity2022, 14, 599.
Briones-Mendoza, J.; Mejía, D.; Carrasco-Puig, P. Catch Composition, Seasonality, and Biological Aspects of Sharks Caught in the Ecuadorian Pacific. Diversity 2022, 14, 599.
Abstract
Although sharks have a fundamental role in maintaining the balance of aquatic ecosystems, exerting a great influence at lower levels, their populations are declining worldwide due, to a large extent, to overfishing. Of the 64 species registered in Ecuador, from January to December 2019, 19 species were recorded in Manta from 15455 captured individuals, with the family Carcharhinidae being the family most present in the catches (69.4%), and the most abundant species was Prionace glauca (57.9%). In the case of threatened species, such as Carcharhinus longimanus, Sphyrna lewini and Sphyrna zygaena, a greater presence of immature specimens was observed in landings, suggesting a possible existence of nursery areas. However, information on the composition and biological aspects of shark species in the Ecuadorian Pacific is very scarce. Therefore, research on the characteristics of life history (age, growth and maturity) are of utmost importance for the analysis evolution of the populations that are being exploited, especially in developing countries, where this information is very scarce, causing inadequate management of fishery resources.
Keywords
diversity; abundance; cartilaginous fish
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Zoology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
