NEWSLETTER 03 and 04/2024 02.04.2024

NEW PARTNERS OF SHARK-REFERENCES

Save Our Seas Foundation Keystone Grant Copies

Applications are now open for the Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) Keystone
grants!
These grants are aimed at those with multi-year projects on the research, conservation or education of threatened shark and ray species. Applications close on May 3, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. CET.
As a body committed to the protection of our oceans by offering financial support, SOSF hopes to facilitate impactful research that shapes a more sustainable future for sharks and rays.
If you would like to apply, see the link below.

https://saveourseas.com/keystone-grants-applications-are-open/







Would you like to become a shark-reference partner? Please contact us per E-mail!

Upcoming Meetings:

More than extinct species: the importance of fossils for ecology, evolution and conservation across borders


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The First Small-Scale Fisheries Regional Symposium for Europe will occur on July 1-3, 2024, in Cyprus!


Abstract Submission until March 15th

https://www.ssfsymposium.com/europe-ssf-symposium
This interdisciplinary symposium is organized to share experiences, research, lessons, and stories to encourage in-depth discussions about what must be done to support sustainable small-scale fisheries in Europe. It may be an opportunity for marine researchers who work among fish and fishers. The European Institute for Marine Studies and # TBTIGlobal will be hosts, among multiple partners.


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20. Tagung der Gesellschaft für Ichthyologie (GfI) e.V. vom 7. bis 10. November 2024 an der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

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CONTRIBUTIONS OF AQUARIUMS TO ELASMOBRANCH RESEARCH

Symposium Overview:

Public aquariums showcase aquatic life while raising awareness and educating the public on biodiversity and the need for conservation. Recently, aquaria have followed in the footsteps of zoos by taking more directed approaches in species conservation as well as leveraging animals in their collections to fill biological knowledge gaps through research. Aquaria possess some unique qualities that can be applied to elasmobranch research and conservation efforts.  In addition to the increasing number of institutions that now support dedicated research departments or staff, aquaria have considerable public audiences (both physical and virtual), ambassador animals to foster deeper connections and empathy for species, dedicated education departments typically focused from the preschool to high school level, comprehensive communication departments with media connections, and extensive animal care and specialized veterinarian teams. Through these expertise aquaria are able to house animals that are often not feasible to care for in traditional academic settings, and for long durations often throughout entire life cycles, allowing important life history information to be investigated.

There has been a longstanding involvement of aquarium professionals in the American Elasmobranch Society, best highlighted by the career and research accomplishments of the late Alan Henningsen.  However, the number of AES members who represent aquaria has dwindled over the past few decades.  We hope that this symposium will highlight these past connections, including Alan’s legacy, encouraging more aquaria personnel who attend to sustain their memberships and take more active roles moving forward to engage with other members of AES from different sectors (e.g. academia, nonprofits, etc).  Equally, we anticipate that this will further highlight and promote collaborative opportunities between aquaria and AES members to the broader benefit of the elasmobranch research field in general.

Symposium organizers:

Jennifer Wyffels, wyffels@ripleys.com

Steve Kessel, skessel@sheddaquarium.org

Kady Lyons, klyons@georgiaaquarium.org

Most popular posts at our Shark References Facebook page:

Nr. 1 (943 Likes/Emojis, 184 Shares):


Leeney RH. 2024. Sharks, skates, rays and chimaeras of Namibia. An identification guide. Illustrated by Alexis Aronson. Namibia Nature Foundation, Windhoek. 106 pp.
Thanks to Ruth Leeney for sharing!
The first ever identification guide to the 88 species of sharks, skates, rays and chimaeras in Namibian waters was published in February 2024. Beautifully illustrated by South African artist Alexis Aronson, it provides a description of each species alongside information about its depth range, global distribution, IUCN Red List status and the threats it faces. Eggcase illustrations and descriptions, where available, have also been included. It is hoped that this guide will not only act as a useful resource for for researchers, students and fisheries observers in Namibia, but will also engage anyone interested in learning more about Namibia's marine wildlife.
Printed copies of the guide have been distributed to government departments, stakeholders and schools throughout Namibia, and the electronic version of the guide is free to download
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378706655_Sharks_Skates_Rays_and_Chimaeras_of_Namibia_An_identification_guide


Nr. 2 (78 Likes/Emojis, 7 Shares):

Thanks to Alessandro De Maddalena for the information about his new guide about Sharks of the Mediterranean.
It includes 51 species of sharks recorded in the study area.

DE MADDALENA, A. (2024): Squali del Mediterraneo. Magenes Editoriale, Milano, 292 pp., color photographs and black and white drawings. ISBN: 9788866492382. Language: Italian.

Nr. 3 (58 Likes/Emojis, 15 Shares):

Hydrolagus melanophasma James, Ebert, Long & Didier, 2009 is a widely distributed species in the eastern Pacific. It is regularly reported in fisheries such as the Patagonian toothfish fishery operating along western South America. However, studies on chimaeras in Peru are scarce. In this study, new data on the distribution, morphology (32 measurements), biology (reproductive) and molecular (mtDNA genes) analysis of H. melanophasma on the central and southern coast of Peru are presented.

Thanks to Sarita Virginia Campos León for sharing.

Donayre-Salazar, S. & Roque-Sánchez, M. & Campos-León, S. & Sotil, G. & Huamaní-Galindo, J. & Béarez, P. 2024 New data on the presence and biology of the eastern Pacific black ghostshark Hydrolagus melanophasma (Chimaeridae) from the Peruvian. Cybium, in press
https://sfi-cybium.fr/fr/new-data-presence-and-biology-eastern-pacific-black-ghostshark-hydrolagus-melanophasma-chimaeridae

https://shark-references.com/species/view/Hydrolagus-melanophasma
image: José Alexis Huamani Galindo

New Images

Missing papers:

Many thanks to all friends of shark-references, who sent us some missing papers last month!

Shark-References would kindly like to ask you for your contribution to this project.

At the moment we are looking for some of the following papers:


Extinct Chondrichthyes:

new entry: Priem, R. (1920) Poissons fossils du Miocène d’Egypte. Burdigalien de Moghara, „Désert libyque“. In Fourtau: Contribution à l’étude des vertébrés miocènes de l’Egypte. Cairo 1920, pp. 8-15.

new entry:  Arambourg, C. (1954) Les Poissons Crétacés du Jebel Tselfat (Maroc). Notes et Mémoires du Service Géologique du Maroc, 118: 188 pp 18 Taf.

Numano, M. (1993) Some Neogene shark-teeth from Mogami area, Yamagata Prefecture. Applied Geology of Yamagata, 13: 32–49



Extant Chondrichthyes:

Smith, J.L.B. (1958) The mystery killer, the new shark Carcharhinus vanrooyeni. Veld & Vlei, 3 (9): 12–14, 28.




Please support www.shark-references.com and send missing papers (not listed papers or papers without the info-symbol) to juergen.pollerspoeck@shark-references.com or nicolas.straube@shark-references.com

Extinct Chondrichthyes:
Bronson, A.W. & Pradel, A. & Denton, J.S.S. & Maisey, J.G.  (2024): A new operculate symmoriiform chondrichthyan from the Late Mississippian Fayetteville Shale (Arkansas, United States).  Geodiversitas, 46(4), 101–117
New genus: Cosmoselachus
New species: Cosmoselachus mehlingi
Abstract: We describe a new genus of symmoriiform chondrichthyan from the Late Mississippian Fayetteville Shale of Arkansas, United States, and include this fossil in a phylogenetic analysis of chondrichthyans. This taxon possesses elongate cartilaginous rays extending from the gill arches, forming an operculate structure that covers at least two of the branchial arches farther posteriorly. Although presence of a ‘hyoid operculum’ has been postulated in at least two unrelated Paleozoic sharks (e.g., Triodus, Tristychius), subsequent investigations failed to corroborate those claims. The new fossil therefore provides the first evidence of an endoskeletal operculum formed by elongate, fused pharyngeal arch rays in a chondrichthyan.

Reinecke, T. & Mollen, F.H. & Gijsen, B. & D’haeze, B. & Hoedemakers, K. (2024): Batomorphs (Elasmobranchii: Rhinopristiformes, Rajiformes, Torpediniformes, Myliobatiformes) of the middle to late Ypresian, early Eocene, in the Anglo-Belgian Basin (south-western North Sea Basin) – a review and description of new taxa. Palaeontos, 35, 1–172
New genus: Glaucopristis, Essexraja, Casierabatis, Sheppeytrygon, Serratodasyatis, Belgabatis, Eurasiabatis
New species: Essexraja ypresiensis, Casierabatis lambrechtsi, Eurasiabatis occlusostriata
Abstract: Early Eocene batomorph faunas, represented by isolated teeth from the London Clay Formation, LCF (Division D, lower Sheppey Member, lower NP12) at Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, UK, and the Tielt Formation (Egemkapel Clay Member) and overlying Hyon Formation (Egem Sand Member, middle to upper NP12) at Egemkapel, western Flanders, Belgium, are described and illustrated. Whereas the Burnham fauna is from an outer neritic, deep-water environment, the faunal assemblages recovered from different stratigraphic levels in the Egemkapel Clay and Egem Sand Members are characteristic of mid to inner neritic settings. We also examined a small batomorph fauna from the upper levels of the Roubaix Clay Member of the Kortrijk Clay Formation exposed in the Koekelberg Clay Pit at Marke, Belgium. The upper Roubaix Clay Member is considered penecontemporaneus with Division D of the LCF, but was deposited in a mid-neritic environment. In all, we identified 13 batomorph taxa in the Sheppey Member, 12 in the Roubaix Clay Member, 23 in two different beds of the Egemkapel Clay Member, and 21 taxa in five beds of the Egem Sand Member. Three new species are described: Essexraja ypresiensis gen. et sp. nov., Casierabatis lambrechtsi gen. et sp. nov., and Eurasiabatis occlusostriata gen. et sp. nov. Based on detailed comparisons with the dentition and dental morphology of living stingrays, four species previously included in the genus ”Dasyatis” are re-allocated to new dasyatoid genera: Casierabatis jaekeli (Leriche, 1905) comb. nov., Sheppeytrygon davisi (Casier, 1966) comb. nov., Serratodasyatis tricuspidata (Casier, 1946) comb. nov., and Belgabatis thierryi (Smith, 1999) comb. nov. The rhinopristiform ”Rhinobatus” bruxelliensis Jaekel, 1894 is transferred to the new genus Glaucopristis. A stratigraphic range chart for batomorph taxa in the late Paleocene, Ypresian, and Lutetian of the North Sea Basin is presented. This chart may be considered as a starting point for additions and updates in future works, because identifications of some small-toothed rhinopristiform and dasyatoid species reported in the literature appear doubtful and the stratigraphic coverage of several species, especially those from outer neritic habitats, is insufficiently known.

Otávio dos Santos, R. & Riff, D. & Ramos, R.R.C. & Rodrigues, I.F. & Scheffler, S.M. & Sucerquia, P.A. & de Araújo Carvalho, M. (2024): A new species of cow shark (Hexanchiformes: Hexanchidae) from the Late Cretaceous of Seymour Island, Antarctica. Historical Biology, in press
New species: Xampylodon diastemacron
Abstract: A new Xampylodon species is described based on a distinguished fossil tooth from Antarctica. The specimen comes from the uppermost level of the informal unit 9 of the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) López de Bertodano Formation, 9 metres below the Cretaceous/Palaeogene boundary in Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Hexanchid sharks are relatively rare in this unit, being represented by only two species: Notidanodon pectinatus and Xampylodon dentatus. The new taxon exhibits a combination of dental features traditionally known in both Xampylodon and Notidanodon (e.g. teeth flattened labio-lingually and bearing well-developed mesial cusplets, followed by a large acrocone), but the presence of a deep root and a distally bent crown indicates a closer similarity with the former. As X. brotzeni and X. loozi, but unlike X. dentatus, the new taxon bears more than five mesial cusplets. Uniquely derived characters include the presence of a pronounced gap between mesial cusplet one and two and a pattern of non-continuous serial enlargement of the mesial cusplets. Incorporating this discovery into the spectrum of Antarctic shark diversity suggests a richness in the southern polar region at the end of the Mesozoic era that surpasses the already considerable previous assessments of diversity.

Türtscher, J. & Jambura, P.L. & Villalobos-Segura, E. & López-Romero, F.A. & Underwood, C.J. & Thies, D. & Lauer, B. & Lauer, R. & Kriwet, J.  (2024): Rostral and body shape analyses reveal cryptic diversity of Late Jurassic batomorphs (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) from Europe. Papers in Palaeontology, 10(2), Article e1552
New species: Aellopobatis bavarica
Abstract: The fossil record of chondrichthyans (chimaeras, sharks, rays and skates) consists largely of isolated teeth, with holomorphic specimens being extraordinary exceptions. However, numerous of these more or less completely preserved specimens are known from several Upper Jurassic deposits of Europe, enabling detailed analysis of their morphology. Batomorphs (rays and skates) resembling modern guitarfishes and wedgefishes (Rhinopristiformes) are among the most common Jurassic chondrichthyans found, but they have been only sporadically studied up to now, resulting in large knowledge gaps concerning their taxonomy and phylogeny. Here, we present the most detailed revision of Late Jurassic holomorphic batomorphs to date, quantitatively analysing body proportions of specimens from Germany (Solnhofen Archipelago), France (Cerin) and the UK (Kimmeridge), using both geometric and traditional morphometrics. Furthermore, we identify qualitative morphological characters for species discrimination, to clarify the taxonomic identity and diversity of Late Jurassic batomorphs based on holomorphic specimens. Our results support the validity of Belemnobatis sismondae, Kimmerobatis etchesi and Spathobatis bugesiacus, as well as that of the previously doubtful Asterodermus platypterus. Moreover, we describe Aellopobatis bavarica, a new taxon, which has hitherto been considered to be a large-sized morphotype of Spathobatis bugesiacus. Our results highlight that the diversity of holomorphic batomorphs during the Late Jurassic was greater than previously thought, and suggest that this group was already well-established and diverse by this time. This study thus provides vital information about the evolutionary history of Late Jurassic batomorphs and has direct implications for batomorph species that are based on isolated teeth only.


Parasites:
Panchah, H.K. & Haseli, M. (2024): Two new species of Scyphophyllidium (Cestoda: Phyllobothriidea) from Chaenogaleus macrostoma (Bleeker) (Elasmobranchii: Carcharhiniformes) from the Persian Gulf, Iran. Systematic Parasitology, 101(2), Article 18
New species: Scyphophyllidium hormuziensen, Scyphophyllidium iraniense
Abstract: Two new species of Scyphophyllidium Woodland, 1927 are described from the Hooktooth shark, Chaenogaleus macrostoma (Bleeker), from the Persian Gulf, Iran. Scyphophyllidium hormuziensen. sp. is assigned to morphological category 2 of its genus because it possesses bothridial marginal loculi and an apical sucker on each flat bothridium, and lacks bothridial facial loculi. Within category 2, it is distinguished from its congeners, except for S. janineae (Ruhnke, Healy and Shapero, 2006), by possessing, rather than lacking, a prominent cephalic peduncle. It differs from S. janineae in the distribution of the vitelline follicles. Scyphophyllidium iraniensen. sp. is assigned to morphological category 5 because its bothridia are essentially flat and lack proximal apertures, marginal loculi, facial loci and semi-circular muscle bands, and bears weakly serrate gladiate spinitriches on its distal bothridial surfaces. Within its morphological category, the presence of a long cephalic peduncle distinguishes S. iraniensen. sp. from its congeners lacking this structure or possessing a short cephalic peduncle. It further differs from S. arnoldi (Ruhnke and Thompson, 2006) and S. typicum (Subhapradha, 1955) in total length, from S. paulum (Linton, 1897) in lacking a conspicuous band of muscles along the locular periphery of the bothridia, and from S. kirstenae (Ruhnke, Healy and Shapero, 2006) in the distribution of the vitelline follicles. This study brings the number of the valid Scyphophyllidium species of the Persian Gulf to five.

Santoro, M. & López-Verdejo, A. & Angulo, A. & Rojas, A. & Cortés, J. & Pacheco-Chaves, B. & Solano-Barquero, A. (2024): Integrative taxonomy of Anaporrhutum mundae sp. nov. (Trematoda: Gorgoderidae), a parasite of the Munda round ray Urotrygon munda (Urotrygonidae) in Costa Rica. Journal of Helminthology, 98, Article e28
New species: Anaporrhutum mundae
Abstract: A new species of trematode of anaporrhutine gorgoderid, from the gill chambers of the Munda round ray Urotrygon munda in Costa Rica is described, based on an integrative taxonomic approach that includes the use of light and scanning electron microscopy, ITS2 and 28S rDNA sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis. Anaporrhutum mundae sp. nov. can be distinguished from congeneric species by a combination of morphological traits and particularly by having the genital pore opening at the level of the intestinal bifurcation. The new species also can be distinguished from all other species of Anaporrhutum, except A. euzeti Curran, Blend & Overstreet, 2003, by having fewer testicular follicles per testis. Anaporrhutum mundae sp. nov. also differs from A. euzeti in its forebody shape and by having different morphology and location of the vitellaria. The study of the tegumental surface of A. mundae sp. nov., as revealed by scanning electron microscopy, allowed detection of new morphological characters for a member of Anaporrhutinae that may be of taxonomic value. These are: a stylet cavity dorsal to the oral sucker with a large penetration gland opening on each side of the cavity and small penetration gland openings located ventral to the stylet cavity, arranged in a circle around the mouth. This represents the first record of an Anaporrhutum species from Costa Rica. Further, A. mundae sp. nov. represents the first parasite described or reported in this host.

PLEASE send your new papers to
juergen.pollerspoeck@shark-references.com or 
nicolas.straube@shark-references.com   

Latest Research Articles

MISCELLANEOUS:

Conservation actions for SA's white shark population now a matter of urgency

New paper challenges the notion of a stable white shark population shifting eastwards along South Africa's coastline

Date: March 5, 2024

Source: Stellenbosch University

Summary: A group of marine biologists specializing in shark ecology, genetics and fisheries have challenged the findings from a recent study suggesting that South Africa's white shark population has not decreased, but simply redistributed eastwards to flee predation from orcas.

Shark-bitten orcas in the Northeastern Pacific could be a new population of killer whale

Date: March 15, 2024

Source: University of British Columbia

Summary: Researchers believe a group of killer whales observed hunting marine mammals including sperm whales, as well as a sea turtle, in the open ocean off California and Oregon could be a new population. Based on available evidence, the researchers posit that the 49 orcas could belong to a subpopulation of transient killer whales or a unique oceanic population found in waters off the coast of California and Oregon.

Orcas demonstrating they no longer need to hunt in packs to take down the great white shark

Date: March 2, 2024

Source: Taylor & Francis Group

Summary: An orca (killer whale) has been observed, for the first-ever time, individually consuming a great white shark -- and within just two minutes.

Why two prehistoric sharks found in Ohio got new names

Research leads to rediscovery of forgotten fossils

Date: February 19, 2024

Source: Ohio State University

Summary: Until recently, Orthacanthus gracilis could have been considered the 'John Smith' of prehistoric shark names, given how common it was. Three different species of sharks from the late Paleozoic Era -- about 310 million years ago -- were mistakenly given that same name, causing lots of grief to paleontologists who studied and wrote about the sharks through the years and had trouble keeping them apart. But now a professor has finished the arduous task of renaming two of the three sharks -- and in the process rediscovered a wealth of fossil fishes that had been stored at a museum for years but had been largely forgotten.