Exploring a possible nursery ground of white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) in Edremit Bay (northeastern Aegean Sea, Turkey)

Exploring a possible nursery ground of white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) in Edremit Bay (northeastern Aegean Sea, Turkey)

Hakan Kabasakal

Ichthyological Research Society, Tantavi Mah., Menteşoğlu Cad., İdil apt., 30/4, 34764 Ümraniye, İstanbul, TURKEY

ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8189-9748

Abstract

Between 1 July 2008 and 14 April 2018, five young-of-the-year (YOY) (TL range 85-175 cm) and six juvenile (TL range 180-300 cm) white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) were caught off the Turkish coast of the Aegean Sea. The mean length + standard deviation of YOY and juvenile white sharks were 138.1+34 cm and 206.6+46 cm, respectively. The YOY white sharks were caught only in Edremit Bay and juveniles were captured in several localities outside of the mentioned region. Based on the findings of previous studies, it is suggested that Edremit Bay may serve as a nursery ground for C. carcharias in the northern Aegean Sea and the surrounding insular marine area outside of the bay waters, may serve as a growing and feeding ground for juveniles until maturity. The white shark population in the Mediterranean may be considered at greater risk of local extirpations than previously thought, and effective management of Edremit Bay as a nursery ground is crucial regarding the overall survival of white sharks in the Mediterranean.

Keywords: Nursery ground, white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, Aegean, conservation, survival

References

Boldrocchi, G., Kiszka, J., Purkis, S., Storai, T., Zinzula, L., Burkholder, D. (2017) Distribution, ecology, and status of the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, in the Mediterranean Sea. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 27: 515-534.

Bradai, M.N., Saidi, B., Enajjar, S. (2012) Elasmobranchs of the Mediterranean and Black Sea: Status, Ecology and Biology. Bibliographic Analysis. Studies and Reviews, No. 91. General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, FAO, Rome. 103 pp.

Bruce, B. D., Harasti, D., Lee, K., Gallen, C., Bradford, R. (2019) Broad-scale movements of juvenile white sharks Carcharodon carcharias in eastern Australia from acoustic and satellite telemetry. Marine Ecology Progress Series 619: 1-15.

Curtis, T.H., Metzger, G., Fischer, C., McBride, B., McCallister, M., Winn, L.J., Quinlan, J., Ajemian, M.J. (2018) First insights into the movements of young-of-the-year white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Scientific Reports 8: 10794.

De Maddalena, A., Heim, W. (2012) Mediterranean Great White Sharks. A Comprehensive Study Including All Recorded Sightings. McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina & London.

Domeier, M. L., Nasby-Lucas, N. (2013) Two-year migration of adult female white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) reveals widely separated nursery areas and conservation concerns. Animal Biotelemetry 1: 2. doi: 10.1186/2050-3385-1-2.

Dulvy, N.K., Allen, D.J., Ralph, G.M. Walls, R.H.L. (2016) The Conservation Status of Sharks, Rays and Chimaeras in the Mediterranean Sea (Brochure). IUCN, Malaga, Spain.

Fergusson, I. K. (1996) Distribution and Autoecology of the White Shark in the Eastern North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. In: Great White Sharks. The Biology of Carcharodon carcharias (eds., Klimley, A.P. D., Ainley, G.). Academic Press. pp. 321-345.

Gubili, C., Bilgin, R., Kalkan, E., Karhan, S. Ü., Jones, C. S., Sims, D. W., Kabasakal, H., Martin, A. P., Noble, L. R. (2010) Antipodean white sharks on a Mediterranean walkabout? Historical dispersal leads to genetic discontinuity and an endangered anomalous population. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
278: 1679-1686.

Harasti, D., Lee, K., Bruce, B., Gallen, C., Bradford, R. (2017) Juvenile white sharks Carcharodon carcharias use estuarine environments in south-eastern Australia. Marine Biology 164: 58.

Harasti, D., Lee, K. A., Laird, R., Bradford, R., Bruce, B. (2016) Use of stereo baited remote underwater video systems to estimate the presence and size of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias). Marine and Freshwater Research 68 (7): 1391-1396.

Heithaus, M. R. (2007) Nursery areas as essential shark habitats: a theoretical perspective. American Fisheries Society Symposium 50: 3-13.

Heupel, M. R., Carlson, J. K., Simpfendorfer, C. A. (2007) Shark nursery areas: concepts, definition, characterization and assumptions. Marine Ecology Progress Series 337: 287-297.

Hoyos-Padilla, E. M., Klimley, A. P., Galvan-Magana, F., Antoniou, A. (2016) Contrasts in the movements and habitat use of juvenile and adult white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) at Guadalupe Island, Mexico. Animal Biotelemetry 4: 14

Jessup, D.A. (2003) Opportunistic research and sampling combined with fish and wildlife management actions or crisis response. ILAR Journal 44: 277-285.

Kabasakal, H. (2003) Historical records of the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lamniformes: Lamnidae), from the Sea of Marmara. ANNALES – Series historia naturalis 13: 173-180.

Kabasakal, H. (2014) The status of the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) in Turkey’s waters. Marine Biodiversity Records 7; eo: 1-8 doi:10.1017/S1755267214000980.

Kabasakal, H. (2016) Historical dispersal of the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, and bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, in Turkish waters: decline of a predator in response to the loss of its prey. ANNALES – Series historia naturalis 26: 213-220.

Kabasakal, H., Bayrı, E., Ataç, E. (2018) Recent records of the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) (Chondrichthyes: Lamnidae), in Turkish waters (Eastern Mediterranean). ANNALES – Series historia naturalis 28: 93-98.

Kabasakal, H., Gedikoğlu, S.Ö. (2008) Two new-born great white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lamniformes; Lamnidae) from Turkish waters of north Aegean Sea. Acta Adriatica 49: 125-135.

Kabasakal, H., Kabasakal, Ö. (2015) Recent record of the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758), from central Aegean Sea off Turkey’s coast. ANNALES – Series historia naturalis 25: 11-14.

Kabasakal, H., Yarmaz, A., Gedikoğlu, S.Ö. (2009) Two juvenile great white sharks, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758) (Chondrichthyes; Lamnidae), caught in the northeastern Aegean Sea. ANNALES – Series historia naturalis 19: 127-134.

Klimley, A.P. (1985) The areal distribution and autoecology of the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, off the west coast of North America. Biology of the White Shark – A symposium. In: Sibley, G., Seigel, J.A., Swift, C.C. (Eds.). Memoirs of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 9, pp. 15-40.

Lyons, K., Jarvis, E.T., Jorgensen, S.J., Weng, K., O’Sullivan, J., Winkler, C., Lowe, C.G. (2013) The degree and result of gillnet fishery interactions with juvenile white sharks in southern California assessed by fishery-independent and dependent-methods. Fisheries Research 147: 370-380.

Otero, M., Serena F., Gerovasileiou, V., Barone, M., Bo, M., Arcos, J.M., Vulcano A., Xavier, J. (2019) Identifcation guide of vulnerable species incidentally caught in Mediterranean fsheries. IUCN, Malaga, Spain, 204 pp.

Papaconstantinou, C. (1992) General remarks on the Greek seas fish fauna. Doriana 6: 8 pp.

Poulos, S.E., Drakopoulos, P.G., Collins, M.B. (1997) Seasonal variability in sea surface oceanographic conditions in the Aegean Sea (Eastern Mediterranean): an overview. Journal of Marine Systems 13: 225-244.

Rigby, C.L., Barreto, R., Carlson, J., Fernando, D., Fordham, S., Francis, M.P., Herman, K., Jabado, R.W., Liu, K.M., Lowe, C.G, Marshall, A., Pacoureau, N., Romanov, E., Sherley, R.B., Winker, H. (2019) Carcharodon carcharias. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T3855A2878674.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T3855A2878674.en

Saïdi, B., Bradaï, M.N., Bouaïn, A., Guélorget, O., Capapé, C. (2005) Capture of a pregnant female white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Lamnidae) in the Gulf of Gabès (southern Tunisia, central Mediterranean) with comments on oophagy in sharks. Cybium 29: 303-307.

Santana-Morales, O., Sosa-Nishizaki, O., Escobedo-Olvera, M.A., Onate-Gonzalez, E.C., O’Sullivan, J.B., Cartamill, D. (2012) Incidental Catch and Ecological Observations of Juvenile White Sharks, Carcharodon carcharias, in Western Baja California, Mexico: Conservation Implications. In: Global Perspectives on the Biology and Life History of the White Shark (ed., Domeier, M.L.). CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, pp.187-198.

Serena, F. (2005) Field identification guide to the sharks and rays of the Mediterranean and Black Sea. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes, FAO, Rome, 97 pp.

Türküstün, F.A. (2015) Aegean Islands by the Vision of Piri Reis. In: The Aegean Sea Marine Biodiversity, Fisheries, Conservation and Governance. (eds., Katağan, T., Tokaç, A., Beşiktepe, Ş., Öztürk, B.) Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TUDAV), Publication No: 41, Istanbul, Turkey, pp. 5-15.

Weng, K.C., O’Sullivan, J. B., Lowe, C.G., Winkler, C.E., Dewar, H., Block, B. A. (2007) Movements, behavior and habitat preferences of juvenile white sharks Carcharodon carcharias in the eastern Pacific. Marine Ecology Progress Series 338: 211-224.

White, C.F., Lyons, K., Jorgenson, S.J., O’Sullivan, J., Winkler, C., Weng, K.C., Lowe, C.G. (2019) Quantifying habitat selection and variability in habitat suitability for juvenile white sharks. PLoS ONE 14: e0214642.