Sharks! Hundreds of them! - September 19, 2008
Let us greet over 100 new sharks and rays, introduced to our race thanks to DNA analysis by Australian scientists. Our happiness at having so many new cartilaginous friends though should be tempered by the knowledge that some of them will go straight onto the ‘critically endangered’ list.
Jaws, we hardly knew thee.
“One species - Parascyllium elongatum (collared carpetshark) - was so rare that the only known example was found in the belly of another shark,” notes The Age.
Peter Last, of Australian government’s science agency the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, has been updating the Sharks and Rays of Australia book, using DNA sequences to differentiate between similar species.
“Additional taxonomic information like this is critical to managing sharks and rays, which reproduce relatively slowly and are extremely vulnerable to over-fishing and other human impacts,” says Last (press release). “Their populations are also sensitive to small-scale events and can be an indicator of environmental change.”
“It’s like finding out that there are a hundred new whale and dolphin species out there. It is a major scientific breakthrough,” says WWF-Australia fisheries manager Peter Trott (press release).
“This is the 21st century and still we lack even the most basic information for almost all species of shark. We urgently need them to become the top priority for science-based research and the top priority for management in order to safeguard their populations.”
More coverage
Scientists name 100 new shark and ray species – Reuters
100 new species of sharks and rays – Adelaide Now
Image top: Maugean Skate / Zearaja maugeana (CSIRO)
Image lower: Southern Dogfish / Centrophorus zeehaani (CISRO)
