New Record of a Goblin Shark Mitsukurina Owstoni (Lamniformes: Mitsukurinidae) in the Western North Atlantic Ocean William B

Marine Biodiversity Records, page 1 of 4. # Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 2014 doi:10.1017/S1755267214000876; Vol. 7; e96; 2014 Published online New record of a goblin shark Mitsukurina owstoni (Lamniformes: Mitsukurinidae) in the western North Atlantic Ocean william b. driggers iii1, katie s. davis2, carl moore3 and john. k. carlson4 1National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Mississippi Laboratories, PO Drawer 1207, Pascagoula, Mississippi 39568, USA, 2National Marine Fisheries Service, Highly Migratory Species Management Division, 263 13th Avenue South, St Petersburg, Florida 33701, USA, 31129 Leonard Ryals Drive, Townsend, Georgia 31331, USA, 4National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Panama City Laboratory, 3500 Delwood Beach Road, Panama City, Florida 32408, USA On 19 April 2014, a female goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, was captured in a commercial shrimp trawl in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The shark, estimated to be approximately 5 m in length, was captured at a depth of approximately 490 m and released alive shortly after capture. This specimen represents the second goblin shark ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico. Keywords: Chondrichthyes, elasmobranch, goblin shark, Lamniformes, Mitsukurina owstoni, Mitsukurinidae, Gulf of Mexico Submitted 8 May 2014; accepted 21 July 2014 INTRODUCTION depth of 490 m at 0930 hr. After removal from the net, the shark was estimated by an experienced fisherman to be Since the original description of a goblin shark, Mitsukurina between 4.8 and 5.4 m stretch total length (TL). Due to its owstoni Jordan, 1898, captured off Yokohama, Japan level of vigour, it was apparent the shark was alive. A line (Jordan, 1898), the species is now known to be wide ranging was quickly secured to the caudal peduncle and the shark in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans (Compagno, was hoisted overboard (Figure 3). The line was then detached 2001). Despite their wide distribution, goblin sharks are and the shark actively swam away. The diameter of the 19 mm rarely observed, with the exception of Japanese waters, line visible in Figure 3 was used to verify the initial length esti- where over 80% of all known specimens have been collected mate of the shark’s TL by comparing the diameter of the line (Rincon et al., 2012). The first documented occurrence of goblin sharks in the western North Atlantic Ocean is attributed to Kukuev (1982), who described the collection of nine specimens captured between 1976 and 1978 in pelagic trawls conducted at the New England and Corner Rise Seamounts. Since that time, nine additional specimens have been documented in the western North Atlantic Ocean off the coasts of northern Brazil (N ¼ 6; Holanda & Filho, 2008), French Guiana (N ¼ 1; Uyeno & Sasaki, 1983) and Colombia (N ¼ 1; Grijalba-Bendeck & Acevedo, 2009), as well as in the Gulf of Mexico (N ¼ 1; Parsons et al., 2002). Whether the paucity of specimens collected in the western North Atlantic Ocean is indicative of a small number of goblin sharks inhabiting the region or is related to relatively limited deep water fishing effort is unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS While conducting routine fishing operations on the FV ‘Sea Angel’ at 24o16.60′N and 82o44.80′W, a female goblin shark was captured in an 18 m bottom trawl on 19 April 2014 (Figures 1 & 2). The capture occurred at an approximate Fig. 1. Capture locations of goblin sharks Mitsukurina owstoni in the northern Corresponding author: Gulf of Mexico. Blue circle represents observation reported herein and green W.B. Driggers III circle represents observation reported by Parsons et al. (2002). The 100, 200, Email: [email protected] 500 and 1000 m isobaths are displayed. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Athens, on 24 Sep 2021 at 21:51:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms1 . https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755267214000876 2 william b. driggers iii et al. the trawl and visible in photographs were identified to the lowest possible taxon. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The goblin shark reported herein represents the second goblin shark reported from the northern Gulf of Mexico. Photogrammetric analysis resulted in a pelvic base length estimate of 513 mm. Yano et al. (2007) examined 21 females, ranging in size from 975–1961 mm TL, and reported that pelvic fin base length ranged from 8.08–10.56% of TL. Based on these proportions, the shark reported herein was estimated to be 4,858–6,349 mm TL. The length of the shark was similar to that of the 5,400 to 6,170 mm estimated TL specimen documented by Parsons et al. (2002). Interestingly, the two goblin sharks collected in the Gulf of Fig. 2. Head of a live female goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, captured in Mexico are the largest specimens recorded. For example, the northern Gulf of Mexico on 19 April 2014. Yano et al. (2007) summarized historical catch records of goblin sharks off Japan, and report that specimens collected to the shark’s pelvic fin base. The morphometric relationship in this region ranged in size from 1,070–3,730 mm TL. of pelvic fin base length to TL for female goblin sharks pro- Similarly, Stevens & Paxton (1985) reported a 3,840 mm TL vided by Yano et al. (2007) was utilized to calculate the male specimen captured off Australia. length estimate. Additionally, other organisms captured in It is not known if the large sizes reported for goblin sharks in the Gulf of Mexico are a result of variability associated with photogrammetric estimates, geographical variability in maximum sizes obtained, size-specific segregation by depth or random chance. However, it is unlikely that random chance or size-specific segregation, are explanatory factors. Parsons et al. (2002) hypothesized that large goblin sharks could be more associated with benthic rather than pelagic habitats. However, Yano et al. (2007) reported that the largest Japanese specimen (3,730 mm TL) was captured at 270–280 m while a specimen of 1150 mm TL was captured at 600 m in the same locality. Additionally, Prokofiev & Kukuev (2009) reported the captures of a 1,380 mm TL male and a 1,110 mm TL female at 550 m. The large goblin sharks reported by Parsons et al. (2002) and herein, were captured at approximately 1,000 m and 490 m, respectively. Combined, these data suggest that size-dependent depth segregation does not occur among goblin sharks. Maximum reported sizes of goblin sharks in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans indicate that geographical variability could be the most parsimonious explanation of why the largest recorded specimens have come from the western North Atlantic Ocean. In addition to the large specimens reported by Parsons et al. (2002) and herein, Kukuev (1982) reported a specimen measuring 4,100 mm TL among the nine he collected. As previously mentioned, the largest goblin shark caught in the Indian Ocean was 3,840 mm TL (Stevens & Paxton, 1985) and the largest reported from the Pacific Ocean was 3,730 mm TL (Yano et al., 2007). Additional records of goblin shark observations, with corresponding length data, would be needed to determine whether or not there is longitudinal and/or latitudinal variability in the maximum size of goblin sharks. Coloration of goblin sharks is described as white to pink by many authors (e.g. Compagno, 2001;Castro,2011). Other authors (e.g. Last & Stevens, 2009) describe the coloration of this species as grey to brown, coloration that Compagno (2001) and Yano et al. (2007) attributed to preservation. Based Fig. 3. Live female goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, being released after on the observation of Rincon et al. (2012)thatrecentlycaptured capture in a trawl on 19 April 2014 in the northern Gulf of Mexico. goblin sharks are dark pink and the dark pinkish-brown Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Athens, on 24 Sep 2021 at 21:51:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755267214000876 new record of mitsukurina owstoni in gulf of mexico 3 Table 1. Species composition of fauna collected in trawl with a goblin as suggested by Parsons et al. (2002) and Castro (2011), shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, in the northern Gulf of Mexico. then the assemblage of species reported in the current study should be representative of available prey species in the area Common name Scientific name of capture. Royal red shrimp Pleoticus robustus (Smith, 1885) Despite a paucity of data, there appears to be a continuous Giant deep-sea isopod Bathynomus giganteus Milne-Edwards, 1879 distribution of goblin sharks in waters of the western Atlantic Blackmouth bass Synagrops bellus (Goode & Bean, 1896) Ocean in areas associated with slope waters and areas of high Deepwater scorpionfish Setarches guentherii Johnson, 1862 relief (e.g. New England Seamounts) (Figure 4). While the dis- Galatheid lobster Galatheidae Samouelle, 1819 tribution could be interpreted as disjunct, particularly between Golden deepsea crab Chaceon fenneri (Manning & Holthuis, 1984) southern and northern Brazil, French Guiana and the north- Armoured searobin Peristedion spp. Lace´pe`de, 1801 Flathead Bembrops spp. Steindachner, 1876 ern Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico and the northern- Atlantic pygmy octopus Octopus joubini Robson, 1929 most observations in the North Atlantic, a pattern is Gulf hake Urophycis cirrata (Goode & Bean, 1896) emerging. Furthermore, because these sharks occupy relative- Blackbelly rosefish Helicolenus dactylopterus (Delaroche, 1809) ly deep-water habitats, it is likely that the stable abiotic para- Caribbean carriersnail Xenophora caribbaea Petit de la Saussaye, 1857 meters associated with such habitats would allow unrestricted Flying squid Illex spp.

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