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The rapidly expanding use of high-resolution data-loggers to study marine vertebrates presents a wealth of new opportunities for understanding the behavior, physiology, and ecology of these animals in situ. It also presents a number...

Two sharks were trained to feed at a target which, when pressed, caused a submerged bell to ring. Later they were trained to press the target for remotely placed food. They retained this conditioned response after a 10-week period...

The scalloped hammerhead Sphyrna lewini and the great hammerhead S. mokarran are large, coastal to semi-oceanic shark species common to waters of the US east coast where they are regularly taken in commercial and recreational fisheries, particularly...

The blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) is the most commonly captured species in the Florida recreational shark fishery. We aimed to quantify the postrelease mortality of blacktip sharks and to determine whether hook type (circle or...

A number of international and national organizations, both governmental and non-governmental, have jurisdiction or influence over the management of marine fisheries, and hence, over the legal collection of elasmobranchs. It is the...

Thrilling underwater photographs enrich this unique guide to the shallow-water sharks of Florida and the Bahamas. Agile, sleek, and precise, sharks display many qualities we can admire and appreciate. These marvels of evolution have...

The ability to produce estimates of the metabolic rate of free-ranging animals is fundamental to the study of their ecology. However, measuring the energy expenditure of animals in the field has proved difficult, especially for aquatic...

Guatemala, situated in Central America along the eastern Pacific Ocean and the western Caribbean Sea, is a major regional consumer of elasmobranch (shark and ray) meat during the Roman Catholic Lenten season. Elasmobranch meat is supplied...

Populations of sharks, including those inhabiting coral reefs, have experienced dramatic global declines. Setting appropriate targets for restoring reef shark populations requires estimates of expected relative abundances in the absence...

In ecosystems, sharks can be predators, competitors, facilitators, nutrient transporters, and food. However, overfishing and other threats have greatly reduced shark populations, altering their roles and effects on ecosystems. We review...

Many shark species have been overexploited for international markets, including fins for shark fin soup in Southeast Asia. Previous studies highlighted the value of large, threatened shark species, regulated under CITES Appendix II....

This study reports on the metabolic rate of the blacktip shark Carcharhinus limbatus and the energetic costs of external tag attachment. Metabolic rates, swimming speed and tail-beat (BT) frequency were measured in a static respirometer...

Characterization of essential habitat for sharks is a key requirement for effective conservation of shark populations. In Cuba, shark essential habitat is largely undocumented. Here we present the first study of a shark nursery area...

Decades of overexploitation have devastated shark populations, leaving considerable doubt as to their ecological status. Yet much of what is known about sharks has been inferred from catch records in industrial fisheries, whereas...

The Straits of Florida comprise an important migratory route for apex predators moving among the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, and Caribbean Sea. Off Cuba’s northwestern coast, various gear types are used by Cuban fishers, including...

Bycatch mortality is a major factor contributing to shark population declines. Post-release mortality (PRM) is particularly difficult to quantify, limiting the accuracy of stock assessments. We paired blood-stress physiology with animal-borne...

Many shark species show regional structure and seasonal movements, complicating the gathering of life history data needed for fisheries management. Length-at-maturity is a relatively straightforward trait to quantify through the sampling...

Effective ocean management and the conservation of highly migratory species depend on resolving the overlap between animal movements and distributions, and fishing effort. However, this information is lacking at a global scale. Here...

To tag large marine vertebrates, without the need to catch them, avoiding using barbs for tag retention, and precisely controlling tag location, the remote Tag Attachment Device on a pole (TADpole) was developed. This allows single-pin...

Fisheries-independent data on the diversity, relative abundance, and demographic structure of poorly studied, threatened oceanic sharks are absent from much of the western North Atlantic Ocean, where multiple oceanic shark species...

Many shark populations are in decline around the world, with severe ecological and economic consequences. Fisheries management and marine protected areas (MPAs) have both been heralded as solutions. However, the effectiveness of MPAs...

A global survey of coral reefs reveals that overfishing is driving resident shark species toward extinction, causing diversity deficits in reef elasmobranch (shark and ray) assemblages. Our species-level analysis revealed global declines...