Browsing by Author "Arocha, Freddy"
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- Distribution patterns and population structure of the blue shark (Prionace glauca) in the Atlantic and Indian OceansPublication . Coelho, Rui; Mejuto, Jaime; Domingo, Andrés; Yokawa, Kotaro; Liu, Kwang-Ming; Cortés, Enric; Romanov, Evgeny V.; da Silva, Charlene; Hazin, Fábio; Arocha, Freddy; Mwilima, Aldrin Masawbi; Bach, Pascal; Ortiz de Zárate, Victoria; Roche, William; Lino, Pedro G.; García-Cortés, Blanca; Ramos-Cartelle, Ana M.; Forselledo, Rodrigo; Mas, Federico; Ohshimo, Seiji; Courtney, Dean; Sabarros, Philippe S.; Perez, Bernardo; Wogerbauer, Ciara; Tsai, Wen-Pei; Carvalho, Felipe; Santos, Miguel N.The blue shark (Prionace glauca) is the most frequently captured shark in pelagic oceanic fisheries, especially pelagic longlines targeting swordfish and/or tunas. As part of cooperative scientific efforts for fisheries and biological data collection, information from fishery observers, scientific projects and surveys, and from recreational fisheries from several nations in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans was compiled. Data sets included information on location, size and sex, in a total of 478,220 blue shark records collected between 1966 and 2014. Sizes ranged from 36 to 394 cm fork length. Considerable variability was observed in the size distribution by region and season in both oceans. Larger blue sharks tend to occur in equatorial and tropical regions, and smaller specimens in higher latitudes in temperate waters. Differences in sex ratios were also detected spatially and seasonally. Nursery areas in the Atlantic seem to occur in the temperate south‐east off South Africa and Namibia, in the south‐west off southern Brazil and Uruguay, and in the north‐east off the Iberian Peninsula and the Azores. Parturition may occur in the tropical north‐east off West Africa. In the Indian Ocean, nursery areas also seem to occur in temperate waters, especially in the south‐west Indian Ocean off South Africa, and in the south‐east off south‐western Australia. The distributional patterns presented in this study provide a better understanding of how blue sharks segregate by size and sex, spatially and temporally, and improve the scientific advice to help adopt more informed and efficient management and conservation measures for this cosmopolitan species.
- Global phylogeography of sailfish: deep evolutionary lineages with implications for fisheries managementPublication . da Silva Ferrette, Bruno Lopes; Mourato, Bruno; Vieira Hazin, Fabio Hissa; Arocha, Freddy; Williams, Samuel Mackey; Rodrigues Junior, Carlos Egberto; Porto-Foresti, Fabio; de Amorim, Alberto Ferreira; Rotundo, Matheus Marcos; Coelho, Rui; Hoolihan, John P.; Sow, Fambaye Ngom; Diaha, N'guessan Constance; Romanov, Evgeny, V; Domingues, Rodrigo Rodrigues; Oliveira, Claudio; Foresti, Fausto; Mendonca, Fernando FernandesSince the Miocene profound climatic changes have influenced the biology and ecology of species worldwide, such as their connectivity, genetic population structure, and biogeography. The goal herein is to evaluate the phylogeography of sailfish Istiophorus platypterus between the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. Our results evidenced a high genetic diversity and three distinct populations among the ocean basins with limited gene flow among them. In addition, the species is characterized by two deep evolutionary lineages that diverged during the Miocene/Pliocene transition, one of them is circumtropical while the other is restricted to the Atlantic Ocean. These lineages evolved along the successive glacial-interglacial cycles from the Pleistocene and remained isolated from each other in glacial refugium until deglaciation. Assessments of sailfish suggest it may be subject to overfishing and the results herein imply the need to re-evaluate the current stock delimitations and management measures adopted by the Regional Fisheries Management Organizations, especially in the Atlantic and the Indo-Western Pacific oceans to effectively manage the species. In addition, this work highlights that both lineages should at least be treated as two distinct management units in the Atlantic Ocean until their taxonomic status is fully resolved, given their high genetic divergence.
- Seascape genomics and phylogeography of the sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus)Publication . Ferrette, Bruno Lopes da Silva; Coimbra, Raphael T F; Winter, Sven; De Jong, Menno J; Williams, Samuel Mackey; Coelho, Rui; Rosa, Daniela; Rotundo, Matheus Marcos; Arocha, Freddy; Mourato, Bruno Leite; Mendonça, Fernando Fernandes; Janke, AxelPermeable phylogeographic barriers characterize the vast open ocean, boosting gene flow and counteracting population differentiation and speciation of widely distributed and migratory species. However, many widely distributed species consists of distinct populations throughout their distribution, evidencing that our understanding of how the marine environment triggers population and species divergence are insufficient. The sailfish is a circumtropical and highly migratory billfish that inhabits warm and productive areas. Despite its ecological and socioeconomic importance as a predator and fishery resource, the species is threatened by overfishing, requiring innovative approaches to improve their management and conservation status. Thus, we presented a novel high-quality reference genome for the species and applied a seascape genomics approach to understand how marine environmental features may promote local adaptation and how it affects gene flow between populations. We delimit two populations between the Atlantic and Indo-Western Pacific oceans and detect outlier loci correlated with sea surface temperature, salinity, oxygen, and chlorophyll concentrations. However, the most significant explanatory factor that explains the differences between populations was isolation by distance. Despite recent population drops, the sailfish populations are not inbred. For billfishes in general, genome-wide heterozygosity was found to be relatively low compared to other marine fishes, evidencing the need to counteract overfishing effects. In addition, in a climate change scenario, management agencies must implement state-of-the-art sequencing methods, consider our findings in their management plans, and monitor genome-wide heterozygosity over time to improve sustainable fisheries and the long-term viability of its populations.
- Spatial and temporal size distribution of swordfish in the Atlantic Ocean: implications for conservation and managementPublication . Rosa, Daniela; Schirripa, Michael; Gillespie, Kyle; Macías, David; Forselledo, Rodrigo; Mourato, Bruno; Kai, Mikihiko; Arocha, Freddy; Su, Nan-Jay; Kerwath, Sven; Bahou, Laurent; Pappalardo, Luigi; Diaz, Guillermo A.; Lino, Pedro G.; Salmeron, Francisca; Urbina, Josetxu Ortiz de; Cardoso, Luis Gustavo; Sant’Ana, Rodrigo; Travassos, Paulo; Santos, Miguel N.; Erzini, Karim; Domingo, Andrés; Báez, Jose Carlos; Hanke, Alex; Brown, Craig; Coelho, RuiSwordfish (Xiphias gladius) is a common target species of surface pelagic longline fisheries. In the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, swordfish is managed as three separate stocks, all having management measures in place to rebuild or conserve the stocks, including minimum landing sizes. The objective of this study was to review size data for swordfish in the Atlantic Ocean, model the sex-specific size distribution and determine areas where there is higher likelihood of capturing undersized fish. The size distribution differed between males and females and varied by quarter, indicating movements of large fish between temperate and tropical waters. Undersized fish seems to occur in association with coastal waters, with higher proportions in the Northwest Atlantic and tropical areas. This study provides a better understanding of the temporal and spatial size and sex distribution of swordfish and presents insights into the distribution of undersized swordfish that is subject to management measures.