Composition of elasmobranch landings in Bahrain

Abstract

The first detailed elasmobranch fisheries data for the Kingdom of Bahrain are presented, based on surveys of fish markets in April 2012. At least 25 species were recorded, including undescribed taxa. The milk shark Rhizoprionodon acutus was the most frequently recorded species; together with the Arabian smoothhound Mustelus mosis and banded eagle ray Aetomylaeus nichofii, these species comprised 53% of individual abundance. Sharks were almost entirely small individuals <1 m total length (TL). Males of small shark species were largely mature, whereas nearly all individuals of larger sharks were immature. For several elasmobranch species, landings were significantly biased towards males, which were largely mature. The species assemblage showed some notable differences in composition to that of adjacent Qatar, sampled at the same time of year, highlighting the importance of local data collection.