elasmobranch communities on panama’s caribbean …

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,megan@maralliance.orgNationalCoordinator - 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.