Catch composition and life history characteristics of sharks and rays (Elasmobranchii) landed in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

ABSTRACTThe scientific literature on the diversity and biological characteristics of sharks and rays from the Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago fishing grounds is scarce and compromised by species misidentifications. We carried out systematic fish landing surveys in South Andamans from January 2017 to May 2018, a comprehensive and cost-effective way to fill this data gap. We sampled 5,742 individuals representing 57 shark and ray species. Of the 36 species of sharks and 21 species of rays landed, six species of sharks - Loxodon macrorhinus, Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, Sphyrna lewini, Carcharhinus albimarginatus, Carcharhinus brevipinna, and Paragaelus randalli dominated landings and comprised 83.35 % of shark landings, while three species of rays were most abundant – Pateobatis jenkinsii, Himantura leoparda and H. tutul, and comprised 48.82 % of ray landings. We report size extensions for seven shark species as well as three previously unreported ray species, increasing the known diversity for the islands and for India. For sharks, mature individuals of small-bodied species (63.48 % males of total landings of species less than 1.5 m total length) and immature individuals of larger species (84.79 % males of total landings of species larger than 1.5 m total length) were mostly landed; whereas for rays, mature individuals were predominantly landed (80.71 % males of total landings) likely reflecting differences in fishing patterns as well as habitat preferences and life history stages across species. Further, juvenile sharks and gravid females were landed in large quantities which might be unsustainable in the long-term. Landings were female-biased in C. amblyrhynchos, S. lewini and P. jenkinsii, and male-biased in L. macrorhinus and H. leoparda, indicating either spatio-temporal or gear specific sexual segregation in these species. Understanding these nuances - the composition and biology of sharks and rays landed in different fisheries seasonally will inform future conservation and fishery management measures for these species in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.