Integrating Literature, Biodiversity Databases, and Citizen-Science to Reconstruct the Checklist of Chondrichthyans in Cyprus (Eastern Mediterranean Sea)

Ioannis Giovos,Fabrizio Serena,Athanasios Anastasiadis,Mary Maximiadi,Periklis Kleitou,Vasileios Minasidis,Alexander Kaminas,Jason M Hall-Spencer,Fabio Crocetta,Dimitrios K Moutopoulos,Adi Barash,Charis Charilaou,Roxani Naasan Aga-Spyridopoulou,Ioannis Thasitis,Demetris Kletou,Dimitra Katsada

doi:10.3390/fishes6030024

Abstract

Chondrichthyans are apex predators influencing the trophic web through a top-down process thus their depletion will affect the remaining biota. Notwithstanding that, research on chondrichthyans is sparse or data-limited in several biogeographic areas worldwide, including the Levantine Sea. We revise and update the knowledge of chondrichthyans in Cyprus based on a bibliographic review that gains information retrieved from peer-reviewed and grey literature, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (135 records of at least 18 species) and the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (65 records of at least14 species), and the citizen science project Mediterranean Elasmobranchs Citizen Observations (117 records per 23 species). Our updated checklist reports 60 species that account for about 70% of the Mediterranean chondrichthyan biota. The list includes 15 more species than the previous checklist and our study reports three new species for Cyprus waters, namely the blackmouth catshark Dalatias licha, the round fantail stingray Taeniurops grabatus, and the sawback angelshark Squatina aculeata. Our research highlights the need for conservation measures and more studies regarding the highly threatened blackchin guitarfish Glaucostegus cemiculus and the devil ray Mobula mobular, and stresses the importance for training a new generation of observers to strengthen the knowledge and conservation of elasmobranchs in the region.

Highlights

Chondrichthyans play a pivotal role in the marine environment, providing stability to coastal and oceanic ecosystem structures and functions [1,2]
Twenty more articles mentioned cartilaginous fishes to occur around Cyprus, but they did not have sufficient information about sightings to be included in our review (e.g., general reports with no coordinated or declared areas around Cyprus, reports of species found in auction markets, papers based on International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) data working with offshore longlining boats potentially in international waters, field identification guides, and publications from other locations (e.g., Spain) that appeared in the search), and were excluded
The updated chondrichthyan fauna of Cyprus includes 32 species of sharks and 28 species of batoids, and accounts for about 70% of the total chondrichthyan biota known from the Mediterranean Sea [7]

Summary

Introduction

Chondrichthyans (sharks, skates, rays, sawfish, and chimeras) play a pivotal role in the marine environment, providing stability to coastal and oceanic ecosystem structures and functions [1,2]. They are heavily overfished worldwide [3,4], with targeted fisheries and bycatch constituting the most significant threats to the conservation of demersal and pelagic species [4,5]. Declines are generally happening before we gain reasonable knowledge of several cartilaginous taxa, with 13 species of those living in the Mediterranean Sea still listed as “data deficient” according to the Red List evaluation of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) [10]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion