Hotspots identification can be used to establish protected or priority areas for conservation at different geographic scales. We aimed to determine if San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina Archipelago could be considered as a hotspot of elasmobranch diversity within the Greater Caribbean. For that, we updated the elasmobranch species richness and analyze its distribution pattern, evaluated the assembly structure and composition and estimated the occurrence probability of the more abundant species of the Archipelago. A total of 46 species, 33 of sharks and 13 of batoids were recorded, with 8 categorized as threatened by IUCN. Quadrants of San Andres and Providencia islands presented the highest richness with 16 species. Oceanic environments differed significantly in composition and abundance from the other four large areas evaluated. Northern banks were the most favorable environments for large-sized pelagic sharks while San Andres and Providencia Islands were for batoids; this difference could be due to the pelagic and benthic habits, respectively, and their relation with availability of substrate, food and sheltered areas. Our study confirmed that the Archipelago has at least 21% of the total richness of the northwestern Atlantic region, 43% of that of the Greater Caribbean and 49% of that registered in the Colombian Caribbean Coast, suggesting that the Archipelago is a potential richness hotspot in the Caribbean region. This high elasmobranch diversity could be due, among others, to its status as a Biosphere Reserve, to its high diversity of habitats and more recently to the establishment of the shark fishing ban.

中文翻译：

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圣安德烈斯、普罗维登西亚和圣卡塔利娜群岛的纤鳃类动物的丰富度和分布模式：该地区是大加勒比地区这些物种的热点吗？

热点识别可用于在不同地理范围内建立保护区或优先保护区域。我们的目标是确定圣安德烈斯、普罗维登西亚和圣卡塔利娜群岛是否可以被视为大加勒比海地区弹鳃类生物多样性的热点。为此，我们更新了弹鳃类物种丰富度并分析了其分布格局，评估了装配结构和组成，并估计了群岛中更丰富物种的出现概率。总共记录了 46 种，其中 33 种鲨鱼和 13 种蝙蝠，其中 8 种被 IUCN 列为受威胁物种。圣安德烈斯岛和普罗维登西亚岛的象限具有最高的丰富度，有 16 个物种。海洋环境的组成和丰度与其他四个评估的大区域有显着差异。北岸是大型中上层鲨鱼最有利的环境，而圣安德烈斯和普罗维登西亚群岛则是蝙蝠类动物的栖息地。这种差异可能分别是由于浮游和底栖习性，以及它们与底物、食物和庇护区域的可用性的关系。我们的研究证实，群岛至少占大西洋西北部地区总丰富度的 21%，大加勒比地区总丰富度的 43%，哥伦比亚加勒比海岸注册总丰富度的 49%，表明该群岛是一个潜在的丰富热点在加勒比地区。这种高度的软骨鱼类多样性可能是由于其作为生物圈保护区的地位、栖息地的高度多样性以及最近制定的鲨鱼捕捞禁令。