PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT
ThisdocumentwaspreparedunderthecoordinationoftheSpeciesIdentificationandDataProgrammeof the Marine Resources Service, Fishery Resources and Environment Division, Fisheries Department,Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).This field guide is largely based on material prepared for training courses on elasmobranch identificationdelivered in the region by the first author, and promoted by the Regional Organization for theConservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA), as an activity of PERSGA’s Strategic Action Programme (SAP) towards capacity building and technical assistance in theRed Sea and Gulf of Aden region. Printing was supported by Japanese Government funds.Theincreasingrecognitionofthesignificanceofsharksandbatoidfishesasecosystemhealthindicators,as well as their particular importance in exploited ecosystems in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, havebeen key considerations to promote the preparation of this Field Guide. Furthermore, in recent years thereported catches of elasmobranchs in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden showed a marked increase.Concern has been growing around the world about the threats to shark populations from both habitatdegradation and fishing. For this reason an International Plan of Action (IPOA) for the Conservation andManagement of Sharks is being implemented, aiming among others to (i) facilitate improvedspecies-specific catch and landings data and monitoring of shark catches; and (ii) facilitate theidentification and reporting of species-specific biological and trade data.With this Field Guide the FAO contributes to facilitate the identification of elasmobranch species in suchsensitive areas as the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are.
Project managers:
M. Lamboeuf, J. Lleonart (FAO, Rome) and P. Oliver (IEO, Palma de Mallorca).
Scientific Reviser:
N. De Angelis (FAO, Rome).
Editorial assistance, page composition and indexing:
M. Kautenberger-Longo (FAO, Rome).
Scientific illustrators
(for material presented here for the first time)
:
E. D'Antoni (FAO, Rome) andP.J. Wynne (Narkidae and Rhinobatidae in part).
Cover:
E. D'Antoni (FAO, Rome).
iii
Bonfil, R.; Abdallah, M.Field identification guide to the sharks and rays of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes.
Rome, FAO. 2004. 71p. 12 colour plates.
ABSTRACT
Thisvolumepresentsafullyillustratedfieldguidefortheidentificationofthesharksandraysmostrelevant to the fisheries of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. An extensive literature review and twofield surveys in the region were carried out for the preparation of this document. A total of 49sharksand45batoidsreliablyreportedfortheregionarelistedandthosecommoninthefisheriesor likely to be found through fishing operations are fully treated (44 sharks and 33 batoids).Included here are the first confirmed reports for the region of
Hemigaleus microstoma
,
Carcharhinus dussumieri
,
Aetomylaeus vespertilio
,
Himantura fai
,
Mobula japanica
and anundescribed
Dasyatis
sp. The guide includes sections on technical terms and measurements for sharks and batoids, and fully illustrated keys to those orders and families that occur in the region.Each species account includes: at least one annotated illustration of the species highlighting itsrelevant identification characters; basic information on nomenclature, synonyms and possiblemisidentifications;FAO,commonandlocalnames;basicinformationonsize,habitatandbiology,importance to fisheries, and distribution. Colour plates for a large number of the species areincluded.
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