New Species of Hammerhead Shark Discovered in the Caribbean and the Southwest Atlantic.
The small shark, known as a bonnethead was believed to be a single species, but morphometric and DNA analysis have revealed there are actually two separate species.
The authors of the study of the newly discovered species have proposed it be known as the Shovelbill Shark (Sphyrna alleni).
It is found in coastal waters, estuaries, coral reefs, seagrass beds, and sand bottoms in the Caribbean in Belize, Panama, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and in the southwestern Atlantic in Brazil.
Bonnetheads are considered Globally ‘Endangered’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The new data suggests that the bonnethead species assemblage may be more endangered and this new species may warrant a “highly threatened” designation, as it is heavily fished and poorly managed. A population collapse of bonnetheads in Brazil and throughout the Eastern Tropical Pacific has been reported. Gillnets and trawls are responsible for most catches of this coastal species.
The paper describing this new species can be found at https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5512.4.2
