TY - JOUR
T1 - First description of a sex segregated aggregation of silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis) and the frequency and distribution of mating wounds off the tip of the Baja California Peninsula
AU - Whitehead, Darren A.
AU - Gayford, Joel H.
AU - Hoyos, Edgar Mauricio
AU - Shorter, Nikolai Madland
AU - Galván-Magaña, Felipe
AU - Ketchum, James T.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - The silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) is a pelagic carcharhiniform shark species distributed globally in tropical and subtropical oceans. In this study, we report a seasonal sex segregated aggregation off the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula and record the distribution and frequency of mating wounds, to determine if males targeted specific regions of the body before and during mating. A total of 210 individual female silky sharks were photographed during mating events from June to July 2021, 63 of which (30%) showed evidence of fresh mating wounds. To quantify differential occurrence of mating wounds in different regions of the body of sampled individuals, we defined 6 regions on each side of the body, and we observed a significant difference in the abundance of mating wounds between these regions (p = < 0.0001). Mating wound frequency did not differ significantly between June and July (p = 0.11), suggesting that these mating events may be longer than previously thought, or that phenological changes could be occurring within populations of C. falciformis in this region. This study highlights the occurrence of a sex segregated aggregation of silky sharks and the implications on their reproductive biology off the tip of the Baja California Peninsula.
AB - The silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) is a pelagic carcharhiniform shark species distributed globally in tropical and subtropical oceans. In this study, we report a seasonal sex segregated aggregation off the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula and record the distribution and frequency of mating wounds, to determine if males targeted specific regions of the body before and during mating. A total of 210 individual female silky sharks were photographed during mating events from June to July 2021, 63 of which (30%) showed evidence of fresh mating wounds. To quantify differential occurrence of mating wounds in different regions of the body of sampled individuals, we defined 6 regions on each side of the body, and we observed a significant difference in the abundance of mating wounds between these regions (p = < 0.0001). Mating wound frequency did not differ significantly between June and July (p = 0.11), suggesting that these mating events may be longer than previously thought, or that phenological changes could be occurring within populations of C. falciformis in this region. This study highlights the occurrence of a sex segregated aggregation of silky sharks and the implications on their reproductive biology off the tip of the Baja California Peninsula.
KW - Carcharhinus falciformis
KW - Distribution
KW - Gulf of California
KW - Mating wounds
KW - Silky shark
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134067283&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10641-022-01297-7
DO - 10.1007/s10641-022-01297-7
M3 - Artículo
AN - SCOPUS:85134067283
SN - 0378-1909
VL - 105
SP - 953
EP - 960
JO - Environmental Biology of Fishes
JF - Environmental Biology of Fishes
IS - 7
ER -