Levantamento de espécies de peixes elasmobrânquios (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii) da Costa Nordeste do Brasil

Abstract

Elasmobranchs are a group of cartilaginous fishes with 1,237 described species in the world. They are animals prone to human disturbances such as overfishing. In Brazil, a third of the species are in some degree of threat of extinction. The last compilation carried out for the entire Brazilian territory identified 159 species of marine elasmobranchs. In the Northeast region, much of the current knowledge of the occurrence of elasmobranchs is restricted to local-scale studies of different lines of research. Due to the importance of works that carry out the compilation of these data for a better understanding of these occurrences, this study aimed at surveying of the elasmobranch species that occur in the northeast coast of Brazil through a bibliographic review. The records were obtained from search portals, bibliographic compilations made available by researchers, previous reviews, and physical literature present at UFPB. 80 species were compiled from 259 references. The predominant orders were Carcharhiniformes for sharks, and Myliobatiformes for rays. The place with the most species was the state of Ceará and the one with the fewest was the state of Piauí. With the information collected, it is possible to observe the importance that the Northeast region has for the diversity of Brazilian elasmobranchs representing about 45,3%. It is also possible to observe possible gaps in studies for some locations.