Endangered Species Research
ESR is a gold Open Access research journal on all endangered forms of life on Earth, the threats faced by species and their habitats, and the necessary steps that must be undertaken to ensure their conservation.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01341
copiedResource use by Sphyrna mokarran and S. lewini (Chondrichthyes) neonates and juveniles in the western Arabian Gulf: a stable isotope analysis
- Yu-Jia Lin
- Hua Hsun Hsu
- Zahid Nazeer
- Premlal Panickan
- Rommel H. Maneja
- Diego Lozano-Cortés
- Ali Qasem
- Antonio Delgado Huertas
- Lotfi Jilani Rabaoui
ABSTRACT: The great hammerhead shark Sphyrna mokarran and the scalloped hammerhead shark S. lewini are marine top predators with global distributions. However, limited information is available on the trophic ecology of hammerhead sharks in the Indian Ocean. In this study, we measured stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes in the muscle tissues of neonates and juveniles of S. mokarran and S. lewini from the waters of the western Arabian Gulf. In general, values of δ15N were lower in S. mokarran (10.8-18.7‰) than in S. lewini (12.2-18.7‰), indicating a reliance on food sources with low nitrogen values. Isotopic niche similarities were observed between female and male S. mokarran. We further observed considerable ontogenetic changes in the δ15N values of both S. mokarran and S. lewini neonates (a reduction from 19 to 12‰), reflecting the maternal effect. The effects of total length and sex on the nitrogen and stable isotope values were nonsignificant in S. mokarran juveniles. The western Arabian Gulf likely serves as a key feeding ground for both the neonates and the juveniles of S. mokarran. By contrast, S. lewini appears to have a low level of reliance on this region.
KEYWORDS
Yu-Jia Lin (Co-author)
- Institute of Marine Ecology and Conservation, National Sun Yat-sen University, 804 Kaohsiung, Taiwan, RoC
Hua Hsun Hsu (Corresponding Author)
- Institute of Marine Ecology and Conservation, National Sun Yat-sen University, 804 Kaohsiung, Taiwan, RoC
- Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, Research and Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, 32161 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
- Coastal and Offshore Fishery Research Center, Fisheries Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, 80672 Kaohsiung, Taiwan, RoC
Zahid Nazeer (Co-author)
- Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, Research and Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, 32161 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Premlal Panickan (Co-author)
- Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, Research and Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, 32161 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Rommel H. Maneja (Co-author)
- Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, Research and Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, 32161 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Diego Lozano-Cortés (Co-author)
- Environmental Protection Department, Saudi Aramco, 31311 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Ali Qasem (Co-author)
- Environmental Protection Department, Saudi Aramco, 31311 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Antonio Delgado Huertas (Co-author)
- Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, IACT, (CSIC-UGR), 18100 Armilla, Spain
Lotfi Jilani Rabaoui (Co-author)
- Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, Research and Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, 32161 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
- National Center for Wildlife, 12411 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia