Abstract
The nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum, is an abundant coastal species widely distributed on both sides of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean. Despite being an endangered species in Brazil, information on bio-ecological aspects of this species is still very scarce. This study investigates seasonal fluc- tuations in abundance, sex ratio and residency of nurse sharks in coastal waters off Recife, northeastern Brazil. Totallengthof the specimens caughtrangedfrom107 to 300 cm. Sex ratio for nurse sharks was 1.31♀:1♂ but it showed a strong variation throughout the year. About 8% of tagged sharks were recaptured after an average of 248 days at liberty, at distances between 0.04 and 6.23 km from the tagging site. A growth rate of 15.77±2.53 cm/yrwasobtainedfromtotallengthdatacollectedfrom three recaptured specimens. Nurse sharks demonstrated some signs of affinity for temperatures between 25o and 30°C and salinities between 34 and 37. The combined analysis of longline and telemetry data indicated possi- ble differences in habitat usage between sexes of nurse sharks off Recife.
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