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BIBTEX RIS

Identification and phylogenetic inferences on stocks of sharks affected by the fishing industry off the Northern coast of Brazil

2009; Brazilian Society of Genetics; Volume: 32; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1590/s1415-47572009005000039

1678-4685

Luis Fernando da Silva Rodrigues‐Filho, Tainá Rocha, Péricles Sena do Rêgo, Horácio Schneider, Iracilda Sampaio, Marcelo Vallinoto,

Fish biology, ecology, and behavior

The ongoing decline in abundance and diversity of shark stocks, primarily due to uncontrolled fishery exploitation, is a worldwide problem. An additional problem for the development of conservation and management programmes is the identification of species diversity within a given area, given the morphological similarities among shark species, and the typical disembarkation of processed carcasses which are almost impossible to differentiate. The main aim of the present study was to identify those shark species being exploited off northern Brazil, by using the 12S-16S molecular marker. For this, DNA sequences were obtained from 122 specimens collected on the docks and the fish market in Bragança, in the Brazilian state of Pará. We identified at least 11 species. Three-quarters of the specimens collected were either Carcharhinus porosus or Rhizoprionodon sp, while a notable absence was the daggernose shark, Isogomphodon oxyrhyncus, previously one of the most common species in local catches. The study emphasises the value of molecular techniques for the identification of cryptic shark species, and the potential of the 12S-16S marker as a tool for phylogenetic inferences in a study of elasmobranchs.