NEWLY DISCOVERED SHARK AND RAY SPECIES

Occasionally new species of sharks and rays are described by science. In some cases they have been well known for a while (e.g. the Western wobbegong) but no one has gotten around to describing them. More exciting is when a deep water trawl or a lucky diving expedition uncovers a species that the scientific community was completely unaware of. This page on elasmodiver.com highlights the discovery of these species. Many thanks to Helmut Nickel who somehow manages to find out whenever a new species is described and diligently informs the rest of the lay community of shark fanatics through the Shark-L web forum. Without his input I wouldn't have a clue.

If you have information about a species I have overlooked please email me the information and I will add it to the list.

A list of sharks and rays previously unknown to science or previously undescribed.

New species of ghostshark

Hydrolagus melanophasma

James, K.C., Ebert, D.A., Long, D.J. & Didier, D.A. (2009):

A new species of chimaera, Hydrolagus melanophasma sp. nov.
(Chondrichthyes: Chimaeriformes: Chimaeridae), from the eastern North Pacific.

Abstract:
A new species of chimaera, Hydrolagus melanophasma sp. nov. (Chimaeridae),
is described from the eastern North Pacific. It is distinct from other
eastern Pacific chimaeroids by the following characteristics: a large
slightly curved
dorsal fin spine extending beyond dorsal fin apex, a long second dorsal fin
of uniform height throughout, large pectoral fins extending beyond the
pelvic fin insertion when laid flat, trifid claspers forked for
approximately one-quarter the total clasper length and a uniform black
coloration throughout. The new species is compared to other eastern Pacific
members of the genus Hydrolagus including H. alphus, H. colliei, H.
macrophthalmus, and H. mccoskeri. Remote Operated
Vehicle (ROV) video footage has identified and documented Hydrolagus
melanophasma from the Gulf of California.
ROV observations suggest that individuals typically occur over soft-bottom
habitats or cobble patches with minimal vertical relief. This is in contrast
to other eastern Pacific Hydrolagus species that tend to occur in areas of
high rocky relief. The known distribution of this new species at present
extends from southern California, U.S.A., along the Pacific coast of Baja
California, Mexico, and into the Gulf of California.

Zootaxa 2218: 59–68 (2009).
http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2009/f/z02218p068f.pdf

New species of Frilled Shark

Chlamydoselachus africana

Paper published on July 31, 2009:
A new frilled shark species was discovered in African waters.

David Ebert and Leonard Compagno.

"Chlamydoselachus africana, a new species of frilled shark from southern Africa
(Chondrichthyes, Hexanchiformes, Chlamydoselachidae)"

Abstract
Frilled sharks (Chondrichthyes, Hexanchiformes, Chlamydoselachidae), long
believed to be a monotypic family and genus, consisting of a single wide
ranging species, Chlamydoselachus anguineus (Garman, 1884), is now known to
contain at least two species. A new species of frilled shark,
Chlamydoselachus africana, sp. nov., is described from five specimens
collected from southern Africa. The new species, although difficult to
distinguish externally from the well known C. anguineus, differ internally
by the structural differences in the chondrocranium, lower total vertebral
and spiral valve counts, and pectoral-fin radial counts. The new species,
Chlamydoselachus africana, is known from off southern Angola, Namibia, and
South Africa.

Zootaxa 2173: 1–18 (2009).

New Skate Species

Notoraja sapphira

Seret and Last 2009:

"Notoraja sapphira sp. nov. (Rajoidei: Arhynchobatidae), a new deepwater skate
from the slopes of the Norfolk Ridge (South-West Pacific)".

Abstract:
A new arhynchobatid skate of the genus Notoraja is described from five
specimens collected on the slopes of the Norfolk
Ridge between 1195 and 1313 m depth. The new species is distinct from its
sibling species from southern Australian
waters, the Blue Skate (N. azurea), by its smaller size, several
morphometric and meristic characters, thorn pattern and
dorsal and ventral coloration.

Zootaxa 2153: 24–34.

2006

Banded wobbegong elevated to species status.

The Banded wobbegong Orectolobus halei (originally described by Whitley in 1940) has been redescribed by Huveneers in 2006. It was previously considered to be the adult form of the Ornate Wobbegong Orectolobus ornatus.

Banded Wobbegong image Andy Murch

Banded wobbegong profile on Elasmodiver

Banded wobbegong images on Elasmodiver

Himantura kittipongi

New species of freshwater stingray discovered in Thailand

The Himantura Kittipongi freshwater stingray, found in the Maeklong Basin of western Thailand
© WWF Cannon Thailand

13 Apr 2006

Bangkok, Thailand – A new species of freshwater stingray has been discovered in a river in western Thailand, but its chances for long-term survival are slim, warns WWF.

The new species of stingray, measuring 60 centimeters (23.6 inches) in width, was first observed two years ago but has only now been confirmed in detail as a new species by researchers from WWF Thailand and the US-based Smithsonian Institute.

WWF Thailand’s Senior Freshwater Biologist, Dr Chavalit Vidthayanon, along with Smithsonian Research Associate Dr Tyson Roberts, have described in detail the new freshwater stingray, known as Himantura kittipongi, found in the Mekong Basin of western Thailand.

Thai rivers, including the Mekong River where the ray is found, have been plagued by serious pollution, overfishing and dam building, which have taken a deadly toll on Thailand's once diverse and abundant river life. The ray is believed to exist in only small numbers.

The new species was named Himantura kittipong after prominent Thai fish expert Kittipong Jaruthanin who first observed the ray in 2004.

For more information:
Radda Larpnun, Communications Manager
WWF Thailand
Email: radda@wwfthai.org

Sphyrna sp.

Previously unknown species of hammerhead shark discovered

BY SUSAN COCKING
Knight Ridder Newspapers

MIAMI - Scientists from Nova Southeastern University and the University of
South Carolina have discovered a previously unknown species of hammerhead
shark in the southeastern Atlantic.

The species - as yet unnamed - so closely resembles the scalloped hammerhead
(Sphyrna lewini) that the only ways to tell them apart are to compare DNA and
count vertebrae.

Mahmood Shivji, director of the Guy Harvey Research Institute at the NSU
Oceanographic Center in Dania Beach, says the two species share the same
waters but do not interbreed. Shivji adds that the cryptic, or unrecognized
species, may be less abundant than the scalloped, making it more susceptible
to fishing pressure.

''They're catching these things they don't know they're catching,'' Shivji
said. ``You could wipe out a whole genetic lineage if you are not managing
these species separately.''

Hammerhead sharks, of which there are believed to be eight species, occur
worldwide. In U.S. waters, hammerheads are managed under the umbrella of 11
large coastal shark species - not including those on the federal prohibited
species list. Commercial fishing for large coastal sharks is regulated through
seasons and quotas.

The practice of finning - cutting off a shark's fins and discarding the
carcass - is illegal in the United States but widely practiced around the
world because fins are believed to have aphrodisiacal and medical benefits.
Hammerheads are particularly vulnerable because their fins are worth hundreds
of dollars per kilogram at markets in the Far East, while their meat is much
less valued. As a result, hammerhead abundance in the western Atlantic is
believed to have declined by 89 percent since the mid-1980s, according to a
study by researchers at Canada's Dalhousie University published in the journal
Science in 2003.

TRAILBLAZERS

Shivji and his NSU colleagues are at the forefront of using genetics to
identify sharks exploited in the international fin trade, which is how they
stumbled on the previously unknown species of hammerhead. In trying to develop
a DNA forensic marker for scalloped hammerheads, they collected 143 samples of
Sphyrna lewini from around the world. They were puzzled to find that the test
worked on all the sharks except for three, which were caught by recreational
anglers off Fort Lauderdale.

At first, the scientists thought something was wrong with their forensic
marker. But more extensive testing on the three South Florida sharks showed
their DNA was completely different from all other scalloped hammerheads caught
locally and around the world, suggesting a separate species.

''The genetic difference is greater between the new cryptic species and the
regular scalloped hammerhead than between the geographically separate
populations of the scalloped hammerhead,'' Shivji said.

SIMILAR RESULTS

The startling discovery didn't create much of a stir at first. But
coincidentally, scientists at the University of South Carolina came to the
same conclusion, using genetic testing to separate eight anomalous sharks
caught in their coastal waters. In a paper published online last December,
they suggested that bays in their state serve as nurseries for the cryptic
species, and should be protected. Intense fishing pressure, they warned, could
imperil both the scalloped hammerhead and the new species.

The scientists wrote: ``Concentrated reproduction in South Carolina coastal
waters also could increase the risk of extinction of the cryptic species. . .
. Data on the geographic distribution and relative abundance of both scalloped
hammerhead species is critical at this juncture and should be used to evaluate
current management plans.''

It is too soon to tell how the discovery of the previously unknown hammerhead
could affect shark management. NOAA Fisheries research biologist Enric Cortes,
who prepares shark-stock assessments for the U.S. east coast, calls the news
``shocking -- it will be another curveball that will be thrown at us.''

Cortes says it will be difficult to separate the new hammerhead in stock
assessments because it can only be recognized genetically. More likely, it
would be lumped with the other large coastal sharks.

Meanwhile, Shivji said, more research is required to count and describe it.

Said Shivji: ``This is the next project that needs to be done: What population
of scalloped hammerheads are the new cryptic species? Someone has to do the
taxonomy on this and give it a name.''

Mustelus hacat

Pérez Jiménez, Juan Carlos, Nishizaki, Oscar Sosa, Castillo Geniz, José Leonardo
A New Eastern North Pacific Smoothhound Shark (Genus Mustelus, Family Triakidae) from the Gulf of California
Copeia 2005 2005: 834-845

MEXICO: March 3, 2006

MEXICO CITY - A Mexican marine biologist has discovered a new shark species in the murky depths of Mexico's Sea of Cortez, the first new shark find in the wildlife-rich inlet in 34 years.

Postgraduate student Juan Carlos Perez was on a fishing boat in early 2003 studying sharks from the Mustelus family netted at depths of 660 feet (200 meters) when he noticed some of them had darker skin and white markings.
The sharks, slender, dark gray-brown and around 5 feet (1.5 meters) long, turned out to be a new species that Perez and his team have named "Mustelus hacat," after the word for shark in a local Indian dialect.

"What I first noticed was their color. They are dark in color, like dark coffee, and have white markings on the tips and edges of their fins and tails which jump out at you because they are so dark," Perez told Reuters on Thursday.

"I got back from the boat and the first thing I said was that I thought I had a new species, but I wasn't sure until six months on when we did genetic tests," he said, audibly elated.

Perez studied around 40 of the sharks from 2003 to 2005.

Worldwide, marine biologists tend to discover two or three new shark species in any given year.

But Perez's find -- bringing to five the types of Mustelus shark found in the eastern North Pacific -- is the first shark discovery in the Sea of Cortez since the tiny Mexican Horn Shark (Heterodontus mexicanus) was identified in 1972.

"I wasn't looking for something new, but it's very satisfying. I'm very happy," said Perez, 31, who is based at the CICESE science and technology research center at the port of Ensenada in northwestern Baja California state.

His find was published in the US journal Copeia in December.

"There must be more undiscovered species there but access is difficult. If we hadn't been on those boats I'd never have seen them because that's the only place they are caught. And it's not a region that attracts scuba diving."

There are some 50 to 60 species of shark in the Sea of Cortez, a narrow body of water also known as the Gulf of California that separates Mexico's Baja California peninsula from the mainland and is famous for its rich and unique ecosystem.

The Mustelus hacat lives in the ocean's depths feeding on shellfish and shrimp," Perez said, adding: "They have very, very small teeth. They are really not aggressive or dangerous."

© REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

Hemigaleus australiensis

AUSTRALIA: Nov 7th 2005

New species of shark discovered in Australia
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/item.php?news=762

Scientists have described a new species of shark in the waters of northern Australia.
The new Weasel shark has just been named Hemigaleus australiensis in a paper in the systematics journal Zootaxa, and is only the second known member of the genus.

The description, written by William White of Murdoch University, Perth, Peter Last of CSIRO and Leonard Compagno of the Shark Research Centre, Cape Town, says that the new Hemigaleus species differs from its congener, H. microstoma, in the presence of a black mark on the tip of the second dorsal fin, as well as having far fewer vertebrae and lots more teeth on its lower jaw.

The new fish Hemigaleus australiensis, which is a member of the Carcharhiniformes family Hemigaleidae, is known from inshore bays on the continental shelves of northern Australia and lives in water up to 170m/557’ deep.

Its closest relative, H. microstoma, commonly known as the the Weasel shark or Sicklefin weasel shark, is a small and slender species roughly the same shape and size as the Smooth hound sharks, Mustelus spp. native to UK waters, which reaches around 1m/39” in length.

H. microstoma is relatively common in the waters around Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore and has paler fins often with white spots on the tips of the fins and the flanks. It lacks the black mark seen on the second dorsal of australiensis.

H. microstoma feeds on crustaceans and cephalopods, particularly octopuses, and is often caught as a food species.

For more details on the new shark species see the paper: White, WT., Last, PR. and JV Compagno (2005) – Description of a new species of weasel shark, Hemigaleus australiensis n. sp. (Carchariniformes: Hemigaleidae) from Australian waters. Zootaxa 1077: 37-49.

Matt Clarke: Mon November 7, 2005, 3:12 pm

Pastinachus solocirostris

MALAY ARCHIPELAGO: September 2005

New stingray described

A new species of marine stingray has been described from the waters of the Indo Malay archipelago.
The new fish, which has been named Pastinachus solocirostris, has just been described by Peter Last, Mabel Manjaji and Gordon Yearsley in a paper in the systematics journal Zootaxa.
Pastinachus solocirostris is a member of the Dasyatidae family and sits in the Order Mylobatiformes.
The genus Pastinachus was previously considered to be monotypic, with a single representative species, P. sephen, occuring across a wide area of the Indo Pacific from the Red Sea to China.
However, recent studies have found a number of distinct fishes in the genus and it seems likely that many names that have previously been placed into synonymy will be raised to specific status once again.
The new ray was discovered in Indonesia and Malaysian Borneo but appears to occur mainly in muddy waters and estuaries off Borneo and Sumatra.
Unlike other members of the genus, P. solocirostris has a smaller adult size, a more elongate head and disc shape, fewer pectoral fin radials and vertebrae and a sting closer to the end of its tail.
For more details on the new stingray species see the paper: Last, PR., Manjaji, BM and GK Yearsley (2005) - Pastinachus solocirostris sp. nov., a new species of Stingray (Elasmobranchii: Mylobatiformes) from the Indo-Malay Archipelago. Zootaxa 1040: 1-16.
Matt Clarke: Tue September 27, 2005, 8:42 am

New species of freshwater stingray discovered in Thailand

The Himantura Kittipongi freshwater stingray, found in the Maeklong Basin of western Thailand© WWF Cannon Thailand

Pastinachus solocirostris

New stingray described

The Himantura Kittipongi freshwater stingray, found in the Maeklong Basin of western Thailand
© WWF Cannon Thailand