BOA VISTA ELASMOBRANCHS Elasmobranchs are an essential part of the marine environment; yet globally, many species have been reduced by as much as 90%. In Boa Vista, more than 20 species can still be found though their populations are increasingly threatened. The abundance of warm, shallow habitats enables several species to give birth here, many of which do so in the protected waters of the baía de Sal Rei. Here are some of the species you might be lucky enough to see:

PLEASE REMEMBER, SHARKS ARE MORE SCARED OF YOU, THAN YOU ARE OF THEM - SO PLEASE RESPECT NATURE, ENJOY THE SEA AND, RELEASE ANY CAUGHT BACK TO WHERE THEY BELONG.

P.O. Box 283 San Pedro, Belize, C.A. LIFE HISTORY +501 226-3399 THREATS SCIENCE & CONSERVATION • Sharks and rays have complex andmaralliance.org • Targeted by commercial fisheries for Asian • Sharks play fundamental role in varied reproduction systems. shark fin market, or as accidental bycatch in controlling the health of fish populations • They produce fewer, well developed tuna and other longline fisheries. and the marine environment. young, and experience slow growth. • High incidence of bycatch in artisanal gill-nets. • Shark finning at sea was banned in Cabo • Gestation can be greater than 12 • Fear and negative perception surrounding Verde in 2005. Several species protected. months depending on species! sharks impedes public support. • Greater protection / regulation needed. •

BLACKTIP SHARK ponta preta NURSE SHARK tubarão gata HAMMERHEAD tubarão martelo MILK SHARK tubarão bicudo Carcharhinus limbatus Ginglymostoma cirratum Sphyrna lewini & S. zygaena Rhizoprionodon acutus IUCN: NEAR THREATENED IUCN: DATA DEFICIENT IUCN: ENDANGERED IUCN: DATA DEFICIENT

Family: Requiem shark – Carcharhinidae Family: Carpet shark – Rhincodontidae Family: Hammerhead shark – Sphyrnidae Family: Requiem shark – Carcharhinidae

B: ~50cm; Adult: ~1.5m; Max: 2.8m. B: ~30cm; Adult: 2m; Max: 3.5m. B: ~45cm; Adult: 1.7m; Max: 4.2m. B: ~35cm; Adult: 75cm; Max: 1.75m. • Black edges to fins • 2 obvious dorsal fins • Unmistakeable hammer-shape • Small grey shark st • Pronounced 1 dorsal fin • 2 barbels on upper lip • S. Lewini 3 notches in hammer • Long narrow snout, big eyes st • Conspicuous white band on • Usually brown colouration • Larger than average 1 dorsal • White edges to pectoral fins flank. Small eyes • Able to lie still on the sea floor • Highly sensitive electro-receptors • Averages just 3 pups after a • Rarely found in >30m of water thanks to ‘spiracles’ that allow in hammer detect prey under sand gestation period of a year • Similar species dusky, spinner it breathe when motionless • PROTECTED IN CABO VERDE* • Frequently caught in gill nets

YOU CAN HELP! For more information please visit: MarAlliance, Cabo Verde www.maralliance.org or call: +238-971-1944 Projeto Autorizado pela Direcção Nacional do Ambiente No. 03/2016 *In Cabo Verde, the fishing of all hammerhead sharks (Sphyrnidae spp©.) is prohibited in accordance with lines 3) h., and 5). d., from MarAlliance‘Resolução 56/2014’ on the 31st of of July, in the ‘Plano Executivo Bianual de Gestão dos Recursos da Pesca 2014-2015’