Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Evidence of a nursery area for bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas (Müller y Henle, 1839) in the Mesoamerican Reef System region

  • Published:
Environmental Biology of Fishes Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Nursery areas are essential habitats for sharks, offering protection and increasing the survival of newborns. We conducted interviews with local fishers and collected data from artisanal fishery landings between January 2013 and December 2019 to investigate Chetumal Bay as a nursery area for the bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) in the Mesoamerican Reef region. The bull shark is a coastal euryhaline shark that inhabits temperate and tropical waters worldwide. In the Mexican Caribbean, bull sharks are caught mainly as bycatch in a multi-specific artisanal fishery using nylon bottomset gillnets, longlines, and hand lines. We record 63 bull sharks in the catches ranging from 67 to 125 cm TL corresponding to immature individuals, 23 neonates with either open or healing umbilical scars (67 and 78 cm TL), and 40 YOY with present but healed umbilical scars (79 to 125 cm TL), with a notable absence of large size juveniles and adults in the catches. Bull sharks were present in landings between May and November; the highest abundance was during July. Our data provide evidence to recognize Chetumal Bay as a nursery area for bull sharks, meeting all the criteria proposed to identify nursery areas. These findings constitute the first documented evidence of a bull shark nursery area in an estuary within the Mexican Caribbean as well as within the entire region of the Mesoamerican Reef System. Moreover, we discuss the importance of this nursery in light of a newly described distinct lineage of bull sharks in Chetumal Bay.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this manuscript.

References

  • Applegate PS, Espinosa L (1993) An overview of Mexican shark fisheries, with suggestions for shark conservation in Mexico. In: Branstetter S (ed). Conservation biology of elasmobranchs. NOAA Tech Rep NMFS 31–37

  • Bangley CW, Paramore L, Shiffman DS, Rulifson RA (2018) Increased abundance and nursery habitat use of the bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) in response to a changing environment in a warm-temperate estuary. Sci Rep 8:1–10

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blanco-Parra MP, Niño-Torres CA, Ramírez-González A, Sosa Cordero E (2016) Tendencia histórica de la pesquería de elasmobranquios en el Estado de Quintana Roo, México. Cien Pesq 24:125–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonfil R (1997) Status of shark resources in the Southern Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean: implications for management. Fish Res 29:101–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Branstetter S, Stiles R (1987) Age and growth estimates of the bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas, from the northern Gulf of Mexico. Environ Biol Fishes 20:169–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter KE, De Angelis N (2002) The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Food and agriculture organization of the United Nations, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrillo L, Palacios-Hernández E, Yescas M, Ramírez-Manguilar AM (2009) Spatial and seasonal patterns of salinity in a large and shallow tropical estuary of the Western Caribbean. Estuaries Coasts 32:906–916

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castillo-Géniz JL, Márquez-Farías JF, Rodríguez De La Cruz MC, Cortés E, Prado ACD (1998) The Mexican artisanal shark fishery in the Gulf of Mexico: towards a regulated fishery. Mar Freshwater Res 49:611–620

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro JI (1993) The shark nursery of Bulls Bay, South Carolina, with a review of the shark nurseries of the southeastern coast of the United States. Environ Biol Fishes 38:37–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cruz-Martinez A, Chiappa-Carrara X, Arenas-Fuentes V (2005) Age and growth of the bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas, from southern Gulf of Mexico. Northwest Atl Fish Sci J 35:367–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curtis TH, Adams DH, Burgess GH (2011) Seasonal distribution and habitat associations of bull sharks in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida: a 30-year synthesis. Trans Am Fish Soc 140:1213–1226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ebert D, Fowler S, Compagno L (2013) Sharks of the world. A fully illustrated guide. Wild Nature Pres. New Jersey, USA.

  • Espinoza-Ávalos J, Islebe G, Hernández-Arana H (2009) El sistema ecológico de la Bahía de Chetumal/Corozal: costa occidental del Mar Caribe. ECOSUR, México.

  • Hammer Ø, Harper DA, Ryan PD (2001) PAST: paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontol Electronica 4:9

    Google Scholar 

  • Heupel MR, Simpfendorfer CA (2011) Estuarine nursery areas provide a low-mortality environment for young bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 433:237–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heupel MR, Carlson JK, Simpfendorfer CA (2007) Shark nursery areas: concepts, definition, characterization and assumptions. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 337:287–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hueter RE, Castillo-Geniz JL, Marquez-Farias JF, Tyminski JP (2007) The use of Laguna Yalahau, Quintana Roo, Mexico as a primary nursery for the blacktip shark. Am Fish Soc Symp 50:345–364

  • Karl S, Castro A, Lopez J, Charvet P, Burgess G (2011) Phylogeography and conservation of the bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) inferred from mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA. Conserv Genet 12:371–382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinney MJ, Simpfendorfer CA (2009) Reassessing the value of nursery areas to shark conservation and management. Conserv Lett 2:53–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcos-Camacho SA, Nalesso E, Caamal-Madrigal JA, Fulton S (2016) Caracterización de la pesquería de tiburón en el norte de Quintana Roo, México. Cien Pesq 24:153–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Medina-Quej A, Arce-ibarra AM, Herrera-Pavón R, Caballero-Pinzón P, Ortiz-León H, Rosas-Correa C (2009) Pesquerías: sector social, recurso base y manejo. In: Espinoza-Ávalos J, Islebe G A and Hernández Arana H A (ed) El sistema ecológico de la Bahía de Chetumal/Corozal: costa occidental del Mar Caribe. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Chetumal, México pp184–195.

  • Natanson LJ, Adams DH, Winton MV, Maurer JR (2014) Age and growth of the bull shark in the Western North Atlantic Ocean. Trans Am Fish Soc 143:732–743

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neer J, Thompson B, Carlson J (2005) Age and growth of Carcharhinus leucas in the northern Gulf of Mexico: incorporating variability in size at birth. J Fish Biol 67:370–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Jiménez JC, Mendez-Loeza I (2015) The small-scale shark fisheries in the southern Gulf of Mexico: understanding their heterogeneity to improve their management. Fish Res 172:96–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rigby CL, Espinoza M, Derrick D, Pacoureau N, Dicken M (2021) Carcharhinus leucas. e.T39372A2910670. In The IUCN red list of threatened species, ed. IUCN.

  • Sandoval Laurrabaquio-Alvarado N, Islas-Villanueva V, Adams DH, Uribe-Alcocer M, Alvarado-Bremer JR, Díaz-Jaimes P (2019) Genetic evidence for regional philopatry of the bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), to nursery areas in estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico and western North Atlantic ocean. Fish Res 209:67–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandoval Laurrabaquio-Alvarado N, Díaz-Jaimes P, Hinojosa-Álvarez S, Blanco-Parra MP, Adams DH, Pérez-Jiménez JC, Castillo-Géniz JL (2021) Mitochondrial DNA genome evidence for the existence of a third divergent lineage in the western Atlantic Ocean for the bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas). J Fish Biol 99:275–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandoval-Laurrabaquio-Alvarado N, Díaz-Jaimes P, Hinojosa-Álvarez S, Blanco-Parra MP, Adams DH, Pérez-Jiménez JC, Castillo-Géniz JL (2021) Mitochondrial DNA genome evidence for the existence of a third divergent lineage in the western Atlantic Ocean for the bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas). J Fish Biol 99:275–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitter-Soto J, Vásquez-Yeomans L, Pimentel-Cadena E, Herrera-Pavón R, Paz G N, García-Téllez (2009) Peces. In: Espinoza-Ávalos J, Islebe G A and Hernández Arana H A (ed) El sistema ecológico de la Bahía de Chetumal/Corozal: costa occidental del Mar Caribe. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Chetumal, México pp111–114.

  • Schwartz FJ (2012) Bull sharks in North Carolina. J N C Acad Sci 128(3–4):88–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Simpfendorfer CA, Freitas GG, Wiley TR, Heupel MR (2005) Distribution and habitat partitioning of immature bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) in a southwest Florida estuary. Estuaries 28:78–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tavares R, Sánchez L (2012) Áreas de cría de tiburones en el Golfo de Venezuela. Ciencia 20(2):116–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Tillett B, Meekan M, Field I, Thorburn D, Ovenden J (2012) Evidence for reproductive philopatry in the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas. J Fish Biol 80:2140–2158

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Young JC, Rose DC, Mumby HS, Benitez-Capistros F, Derrick CJ, Finch T, Mukherjee N (2018) A methodological guide to using and reporting on interviews in conservation science research. Methods Ecol Evol 9(1):10–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zamora-Vilchis I, Blanco-Parra MP, Castelblanco-Martínez DN, Niño-Torres CA (2018) Efectos antropogénicos sobre las poblaciones de megafauna acuática del Caribe mexicano: una revisión del estado del arte. In: Ramírez-Bautista PLR (ed) Ecología y Conservación de Fauna en Ambientes Antropizados. CONACYT-UAQ, México. http://refama.org/libro-ecologia-y-conservacion-de-fauna-en-ambientes-antropizados/. Accessed 20 Aug 2022

  • Zar J (1996) Biostatistical analysis. Prentice-Hall International Inc., London

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are so grateful to the fishers who supported us through answering interview questions and allowed us to monitor their catch. Also, we want to thank all the people and students who were a part of this project as volunteers during our monitoring. This project is part of the “Programa de monitoreo de megafauna acuática del Caribe mexicano” of the University of Quintana Roo. We want to thank Jessica Quinlan for the English review.

Funding

This work was supported by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (grant number Proyecto Cátedras 951, 2015) and project CONACYT CB-2015–01 grant number 253381.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. División de Desarrollo Sustentable, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Quintana Roo, Chetumal, Quintana Roo, México

    María del Pilar Blanco-Parra & Carlos Alberto Niño-Torres

  2. Programa Investigadores e Investigadoras por México, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, Ciudad de México, México

    María del Pilar Blanco-Parra

  3. Fundación Internacional para la Naturaleza y la Sustentabilidad (FINS), Chetumal, Quintana Roo, México

    María del Pilar Blanco-Parra & Carlos Alberto Niño-Torres

  4. Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, UNAM, Ciudad de México, México

    Nadia Sandoval-Laurrabaquio-Alvarado

  5. Takata Centro de Investigación A. C, Mahahual, México

    Nadia Sandoval-Laurrabaquio-Alvarado

  6. Unidad Académica de Ecología y Biodiversidad Acuática, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, UNAM, Ciudad de México, México

    Píndaro Díaz-Jaimes

Authors
  1. María del Pilar Blanco-Parra
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nadia Sandoval-Laurrabaquio-Alvarado
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Píndaro Díaz-Jaimes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Carlos Alberto Niño-Torres
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carlos Alberto Niño-Torres.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

All activities were performed according to the Mexican laws and regulations. All sharks analyzed proceeded from artisanal fisheries only. No ethical conflicts exist in the realization of this work.

Consent for publication

All authors have reviewed and approved the present version to be published.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Blanco-Parra, M.d.P., Sandoval-Laurrabaquio-Alvarado, N., Díaz-Jaimes, P. et al. Evidence of a nursery area for bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas (Müller y Henle, 1839) in the Mesoamerican Reef System region. Environ Biol Fish 105, 1193–1202 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-022-01338-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-022-01338-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation