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Range extension of the Critically Endangered shorttail nurse shark Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum (Orectolobiformes: Ginglymostomatidae) to include Mozambique, with implications for management

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Abstract

The Critically Endangered shorttail nurse shark Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum (Günther, 1866) is a small-bodied Orectolobiform shark found only in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). We report here on a significant range extension for P. brevicaudatum based on four records of the species in southern Mozambique, recorded during research surveys, including a specimen collected in 1967 and video surveys in 2019, and opportunistic assessments of shore-angler photographic catch records. These are the first records of P. brevicaudatum in Mozambique. The potential factors for this range extension and its implications for the management of this species are discussed. We also present morphological descriptions of the first recorded P. brevicaudatum specimen from Mozambique and of the dentition of this species (based on samples from Madagascar), and comment on the current status of knowledge and knowledge gaps for this species. Owing to its poor conservation status, limited inshore distribution and potential and confirmed fishery threats, improved knowledge and conservation should be considered priorities for P. brevicaudatum.

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Acknowledgements

Aspects of this project were funded by the Shark Conservation Fund, a philanthropic collaborative pooling expertise and resources to meet the threats facing the world’s sharks and rays. The Shark Conservation Fund is a project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. The BRUV study was conducted under authorization from Instituto Nacional de Investigação Pesqueira, Maputo, Mozambique. We thank the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) for the specimen loan of SAIAB catalogue number 13152. We would also like to thank Jason Seitz of ANAMAR Environmental Consulting, Gainesville, Florida for donating jaw specimens to M. Harris for use in this study as well as for providing the use of another specimen from his private collection. We thank James Maclaine of the British Natural History Museum for accessing and photographing specimen BMNH 1869.4.22.9 for dental comparison. We thank Emildo Notisso (Instituto Nacional de Investigação Pesqueira) for assistance with the BRUV field work. The BRUV field work was facilitated in part by the Marine Megafauna Foundation Mozambique, Peri Peri Divers, Guinjata Dive Centre and Zavora Divers at Zavora Lodge. We thank Kevin Rudolph, Shaun Dafel, Max Killian and Craig Wells for sharing information and photographs of their shore angling catches. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments that helped to improve the manuscript.

Funding

This work was based partly on a project funded by the Shark Conservation Fund, a philanthropic collaborative pooling expertise and resources to meet the threats facing the world’s sharks and rays. The Shark Conservation Fund is a project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wildlife Conservation Society, Western Indian Ocean Shark and Ray Conservation Program, New York, NY, USA

    Rhett H. Bennett & David van Beuningen

  2. South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Grahamstown, South Africa

    Rhett H. Bennett, David A. Ebert & Aseeqah Davids

  3. Pacific Shark Research Center, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, CA, USA

    David A. Ebert

  4. Wildlife Conservation Society Mozambique Program, Maputo, Mozambique

    Jorge J. Sitoe

  5. Instituto Nacional de Investigação Pesqueira, Maputo, Mozambique

    Stela Fernando

  6. F.F.C., Elasmobranch Studies, New Port Richey, FL, USA

    Mark Harris

  7. World Wide Fund for Nature, Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa

    Aseeqah Davids

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  1. Rhett H. Bennett
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Correspondence to Rhett H. Bennett.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

No animal testing was performed during this study. The single animal sacrificed was collected in 1967 and stored in a museum collection since, thus prior to the establishment of most animal ethics committees.

Sampling and field studies

All necessary permits for sampling and observational field studies were obtained by the authors from the competent authorities and are mentioned in the acknowledgements. The study is compliant with CBD and Nagoya protocols.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article or links herein.

Authors’ contributions

RB, JS and SF conceived and designed research, secured relevant authorizations and conducted field sampling. AD conducted video analyses. RB, DE and AD identified the specimen and visual material to species level. DE and MH described the measured specimen and the dentition, respectively. DvB conducted an extensive literature review on the species (and related species) to identify knowledge gaps. RB, DE, MH, and DvB wrote the manuscript. All authors read, approved and contributed to the manuscript.

Additional information

This article is a contribution to the Topical Collection Systematics and Biodiversity of Indian Ocean Sharks, Rays, and Chimaeras (Chondrichthyes)

Communicated by S. Weigmann

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Appendix

Appendix

Table 1 Proportional dimensions of Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum collected in 1967 in southern Mozambique (current study, SAIAB catalogue number 13152, Male 746 mm total length (TL), whole preserved shark), with comparative published lengths from the original Pseudoginglymostoma genus description (Dingerkus 1986)
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Bennett, R.H., Ebert, D.A., Sitoe, J.J. et al. Range extension of the Critically Endangered shorttail nurse shark Pseudoginglymostoma brevicaudatum (Orectolobiformes: Ginglymostomatidae) to include Mozambique, with implications for management. Mar. Biodivers. 51, 7 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-020-01137-w

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