Diet and Reproductive Biology of Pelagic Sharks in Southern Australia: Understanding Their Ecology to Enhance Policy Development and Conservation Management
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MMMaaarrriiinnneee EEEnnnvvviiirrrooonnnmmmeeennnttt &&& EEEcccooolllooogggyyy Diet and reproductive biology of pelagic sharks in southern Australia: understanding their ecology to enhance policy development and conservation management SARDI Publication Number F2009/XXX SARDI Research Report Series No. XX SARDI Publication Number F2009/000162-1 SARDI Research Report Series No. 362 Final Report to the Department for Environment & Heritage Wildlife Conservation Fund P. J. Rogers1,2 and C. Huveneers1,2 1. SARDI Aquatic Sciences, 2. Flinders University of South Australia May 2009 Diet and reproductive biology of pelagic sharks 2 Diet and reproductive biology of pelagic sharks in southern Australia: understanding their ecology to enhance policy development and conservation management P. J. Rogers & C. Huveneers May 2009 SARDI Publication Number F2009/000162-1 SARDI Research Report Series No. 362 Diet and reproductive biology of pelagic sharks 3 This publication may be cited as: Rogers, P.J & Huveneers, C. (2009). Diet and reproductive biology of pelagic sharks in southern Australia: understanding their ecology to enhance policy development and conservation management. Final Report to Wildlife Conservation Fund. South Australian Research and Development Institute (Aquatic Sciences), Adelaide, 31pp. SARDI Publication Number F2009/000162-1 South Australian Research and Development Institute SARDI Aquatic Sciences 2 Hamra Avenue West Beach SA 5024 Telephone: (08) 8207 5400 Facsimile: (08) 8207 5481 www.sardi.sa.gov.au DISCLAIMER The authors warrant that they have taken all reasonable care in producing this report. The report has been through the SARDI internal review process, and has been formally approved for release by the Chief of Division. Although all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure quality, SARDI does not warrant that the information in this report is free from errors or omissions. SARDI does not accept any liability for the contents of this report or for any consequences arising from its use or any reliance placed upon it. Copyright. SARDI Aquatic Sciences This work is copyright. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Commonwealth), no part of this publication may be reproduced by any process, electronic or otherwise, without the specific written permission of the copyright owners. Neither may information be stored electronically in any form whatsoever without such permission. Printed in Adelaide: May 2009 SARDI Aquatic Sciences Publication Number F2009/000162-1 SARDI Research Report Series No. 360 Authors: P. J. Rogers & C. Huveneers Reviewers: S. Goldsworthy & B. Page Approved by: J. Tanner Signed: Date: 18 May 2009 Circulation: Public Domain Diet and reproductive biology of pelagic sharks 4 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... 6 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................... 7 NEED ..................................................................................................................................................................... 8 OBJECTIVES ....................................................................................................................................................... 8 OBJECTIVE 1. COLLECT INFORMATION ON THE DIET, TROPHIC INTERACTIONS AND REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF PELAGIC SHARKS OFF SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA.......................... 9 MATERIALS AND METHODS ................................................................................................................................9 Sampling ....................................................................................................................................................... 9 Laboratory analysis ..................................................................................................................................... 9 Relative measures of prey quantity......................................................................................................... 11 Comparison of prey contribution ............................................................................................................. 11 Reproductive status................................................................................................................................... 11 RESULTS........................................................................................................................................................... 12 Size structure ............................................................................................................................................. 12 Relative measures of prey quantity......................................................................................................... 15 Comparison of prey contributions ........................................................................................................... 21 Reproductive status................................................................................................................................... 23 OBJECTIVE 2: GREATER PUBLIC AND SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE ECOLOGICAL ROLES AND SIGNIFICANCE OF PELAGIC SHARKS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIAN WATERS............. 28 DEVELOPMENT OF A PROJECT WEBSITE .......................................................................................................... 28 DISCUSSION...................................................................................................................................................... 30 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................................................. 31 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................................. 31 REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................................... 32 List of Tables TABLE 1. PREY COMPOSITION OF SHORTFIN MAKOS (ISURUS OXYRINCHUS) .................................................... 15 TABLE 2. PREY COMPOSITION OF COMMON THRESHERS (ALOPIAS VULPINUS) ................................................. 18 TABLE 3. PREY COMPOSITION OF BRONZE WHALERS (CARCHARHINUS BRACHYURUS) .................................... 19 TABLE 4. PREY COMPOSITION OF SMOOTH HAMMERHEAD SHARK (SPHRYNA ZYGAENA)................................... 20 Diet and reproductive biology of pelagic sharks 5 List of Figures FIGURE 1. KEY REGIONS WHERE SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED DURING THIS STUDY. ......................................... 10 FIGURE. 2. LENGTH-FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF SHORTFIN MAKOS (ISURUS OXYRINCHUS) SAMPLED DURING THE STUDY (N = 28). .................................................................................................................................... 12 FIGURE. 3. LENGTH-FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF COMMON THRESHERS (ALOPIAS VULPINUS) SAMPLED DURING THE STUDY (N = 24)........................................................................................................................ 13 FIGURE. 4. LENGTH-FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF BRONZE WHALERS (CARCHARHINUS BRACHYURUS) SAMPLED DURING THE STUDY (N = 46)........................................................................................................ 14 FIGURE. 5. LENGTH-FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF SMOOTH HAMMERHEADS (SPHRYNA ZYGAENA) SAMPLED DURING THE STUDY (N = 22)........................................................................................................................ 14 FIGURE.6. PREY ITEMS IN STOMACHS OF SHORTFIN MAKOS COLLECTED AT PORT MACDONNELL. TOP IMAGE SHOWS AN ARROW SQUID NOTOTODARUS GOULDI (ML= 26 CM, 551 G), WHICH WAS CONSUMED BY A SHORTFIN MAKO (41.92 KG, 162 CM, TL) AND THE BOTTOM IMAGE SHOWS TWO LARGE BARRACOUTA (THYRSITES ATUN) (88 AND 120 CM, TL) CONSUMED BY SHORTFIN MAKOS (64.92 KG, 220 CM, TL)..... 16 FIGURE. 7. SCARRING CAUSED BY SQUID SUCKERS ON SHORTFIN MAKOS TAKEN DURING THE GAMEFISHING COMPETITION AT PORT MACDONNELL ........................................................................................................ 17 FIGURE. 8. TOP PLOT. COMPARISON OF INDEX OF RELATIVE IMPORTANCE (IRI) ESTIMATES FOR PREY TAXA FOR FOUR SHARK SPECIES. BOTTOM PLOT. TWO-DIMENSIONAL MULTI-DIMENSIONAL SCALING (MDS) PLOT OF PREY BY SHARK SPECIES............................................................................................................... 22 FIGURE.9. IMMATURE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS OF FEMALE JUVENILE SHORTFIN MAKOS COLLECTED OFF PORT MACDONNELL. ............................................................................................................................................. 23 FIGURE. 10 (TOP) CLASPERS OF JUVENILE AND (BOTTOM) MATURING (64.92 KG, 2.2 M, TL) MALE SHORTFIN MAKOS COLLECTED OFF PORT MACDONNELL............................................................................................ 24 FIGURE. 11. (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT). IMMATURE TESTES OF A COMMON THRESHER TAKEN IN SA (TOP LEFT AND RIGHT). COMMON THRESHER TAKEN OFF SYDNEY (138 KG, 387 CM, FL) DURING A GAMEFISHING COMPETITION. (BOTTOM RIGHT) SUSPECTED PELAGIC THRESHER. ................................... 25 FIGURE. 12. PREGNANT FEMALE BRONZE WHALER CARCHARHINUS BRACHYURUS (308 KG, 288 CM, TL) COLLECTED FROM A METROPOLITAN BEACH