Mangrove use by sharks and rays: A review
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
A wide variety of species depend on mangroves, making them essential habitats in tropical and subtropical regions. While the function of mangrove habitat is well studied for taxa such as teleost fishes, limited attention has been directed towards their value for elasmobranchs. Here, we review the available literature on how and why elasmobranchs use mangrove habitats based on 65 papers identified through literature searches. The use of mangrove habitat as nursery areas in combination with other coastal habitats is well examined although we found taxonomic and regional biases in research. Additionally, mangrove habitats are considered to offer elasmobranchs feeding opportunities and refuge from predators, yet such functions have rarely been tested. In particular, the ecological role of elasmobranchs within mangrove habitats is poorly known, since it is difficult to study their behaviour in complex mangroves, their feeding ecology is understudied, as are trophic linkages between mangrove and adjacent ecosystems. For further understandings of association between mangroves and elasmobranchs, direct observations of elasmobranch behaviour in mangrove habitats are needed. Given global concern of mangrove loss, understanding how this affects elasmobranch populations will require long-term studies, particularly in those regions where losses are greatest. We identify eight key research questions that will help improve this understanding.
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724
ISBN/ISSN
1616-1599
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Pages Count
17
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Publisher
Inter-Research
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DOI
10.3354/meps14452