elasmobranch communities on panama’s caribbean …
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Table1. Fisheries-independentmonitoringeffortinBocasdelToro(BDT)and Guna Yala(GUN)
1. BaitedRemoteUnderwaterVideos– Setfor65minutesminimum
2. UnderwaterVisualCensus– 1,000mx60msnorkellingtransects,4transectors
3. Scientificlongline– 90minutesoaktime,50hooks,16/0hooks,4mgangions
Methods
BRUVs UVC Longline Effort 135 17 78 28 20
Species Richness 10 4 5 5 4
# of sightings # of sightings # of captures
Nurse shark Ginglymostoma
cirratum
78 4 26 17 2
Caribbean reef shark Carcharhinus perezi
3 3 0 0 0
Blacktip shark C. l imbatus
6 0 0 0 1
Blacknose shark C. acronotus
0 4 0 0 1
Great hammerhead Sphyrna mokarran
2 0 0 0 0
Scalloped hammerhead Sphyrna lewini
1 0 0 0 0
Southern stingray Hypanus americanus
35 3 74 32 1
Caribbean whiptail ray
Styracura schmardae
12 0 60 11 0
Spotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari
7 0 39 7 0
Yellow ray Urobatis jamaicensis
3 0 8 7 0
Longnose stingray Hypanus guttatus
1 0 0 0 0
Figure 3.Mapsshowing thedistributionof shark(a)andray (b)speciesseen duringmonitoring intheGuna Yalaislands.Whiteicons aremonitoring stationswhere nosharks orrays were seen UVCorwith BRUVs.
Figure 2. Distributionof speciesof sharks (a)andrays (b)seen orcaptured during annual monitoring inBocasdelToroislands.NationalMarineParkIslaBastimentos (inred).Whiteicons denote stationswith norecords of sharks orrays.
Figure1.MapofPanamahighlightingthelocationsofthestudysitesforannualmonitoring:BocasdelToro(BDT) andGunaYala (GUN)
b.
• Acombinationofdifferentmonitoringmethodsisnecessarytoevaluateelasmobranchdiversityanddistribution.• UVCsaremoreeffectivefordocumentingrays;BRUVsbetterforsharks• Southernstingraysandnursesharksà mostcommonspecies,foundwithallmethodsandinallhabitattypesinGUNandBDT• Caribbeanreefsharksandhammerheadsà deeper,rockyreefsites• Deeper,fore-reefsites(moredistantfromhumancommunities)à highersharkdiversityandabundance• Shelteredinnerreefandlagoonsitesà higher raydiversityandabundance• MarineProtectedArea(BDT)à probablynotbeneficialformostsharkspecies
b.
BocasdelToro
a.
BocasdelToro
b.
a.
Guna Yala
Guna Yala
b.
Results
FormoreinformationMeganChevis,[email protected] - PanamaMarAlliancewww.maralliance.org
ELASMOBRANCHCOMMUNITIESONPANAMA’SCARIBBEANCOAST:FISHERIES-INDEPENDENTMONITORINGINTHEBOCASDEL
TOROANDGUNAYALAARCHIPELAGOSMeganChevis*,AnaBatista,LeysonNavarro,RachelT.Graham.
Acknowledgements:Weheartilythankthefishersandcaptainswhoconductedfieldworkwithus,aswellasvolunteers,ConnieClemonsandPanamanianstudentsAlexandraGuzman,RamiroSolis,AlexandradeLeón.WorkwasconductedwithaResearchPermitfromthePanamaMinistryofEnvironmentandwithapprovalfromtheKuna GeneralCongress.
ACaribbean reef shark (Carcharhinusperezi)onaBRUVinGunaYala,Panama
Fisheries-independentdataonelasmobranchsinPanamaarelacking,notablyforsitesalongthecountry’sCaribbeancoast.TheBocasdelToro(BDT)andGunaYala(GUN)coralreefarchipelagoshostavarietyofsimilarmarinebenthichabitats,includingshelteredcoralreefs,seagrass,andexposedrockyreefs,thoughtheydifferinaccessibilityandfishingpressure.AnnualmonitoringwasconductedatstationsinBDTandGUNforthreeandoneyears,respectively,toassesstherelativeabundanceanddistributionoflargemarinewildlife(shark,ray,piscivorousfinfish,turtle)communitiesaroundtheislands.
Partners Donors
Conclusions
Panama
References Andrefouet, S. and Guzman, H.M. 2005. Coral reef distribution, status and geomorphology - biodiversityrelationship in Kuna Yale (San Blas) archipelago, Caribbean Panama. Coral Reefs 24: 31-42Dominici-Arosemena A. And Wolff M. 2005. Reef fish community structure in Bocas del Toro (Caribbean, Panama): Gradients in habitat complexity and exposure. Caribbean Journal of Science 41: 613-637Vergara-Chen C. 2016. La investigación y gestión pesquera para la conservación de la biodiversidad marina de Panamá. Tecnociencia 18: 73-85.