finance
Puerto Rico Study Finds Genetically Distinct Scalloped Hammerhead Population
Researchers collected nearly 400 shark anal fins from two Puerto Rico fish markets over 18 months. DNA analysis showed local scalloped hammerheads belong to the ESA-listed Central and Southwest Atlantic population segment and are genetically separate from groups in Belize and Brazil.
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Scientists working with fishers in Puerto Rico identified a genetically distinct population of scalloped hammerheads through analysis of nearly 400 anal fins collected over 18 months. The study recorded nine shark species at two major fish markets. The Caribbean sharpnose shark, prohibited in U.S. federal waters, and juvenile scalloped hammerheads, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, made up the largest share of landings.
DNA barcoding placed the Puerto Rico scalloped hammerheads within the Central and Southwest Atlantic population segment rather than the Northwest Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico segment. The same analysis showed genetic separation from populations sampled in Belize and Brazil.
Lead author Dr. Devanshi Kasana, formerly with Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium and now affiliated with Oceana, said the anal-fin method functions as a biological logbook that records species and size data.
Rico territorial waters allow landings of species banned in federal waters. More than three-quarters of the sharks in the study belonged to federally prohibited species.
