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Diversity
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Integrating Biodiversity, Ecology, and Management in Shark Research
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Integrating Biodiversity, Ecology, and Management in Shark Research

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 1584

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Carlos Bustamante

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Programa de Conservación de Tiburones, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y de Recursos Biológicos, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, Chile
Interests: reproductive and fishery biology of cartilaginous fish (sharks, rays, and chimaeras); phylogenetics and phylogeography of fish; molecular taxonomy of marine fish; genomics and population genetics
Prof. Dr. Carlos J. Polo-Silva

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Sharky Management and Consulting, Oldsmar, FL, USA
Interests: shark and ray conservation; trophic ecology; population dynamics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sharks represent one of the most ecologically and evolutionarily distinctive vertebrate lineages, with a history spanning over 400 million years. Despite their evolutionary success, many species face unprecedented pressures from overexploitation, habitat degradation, and climate change. As apex and mesopredators, sharks play a critical role in maintaining the structure and function of marine ecosystems. However, our understanding of their biodiversity, ecological interactions, and responses to human activities is incomplete.

This Special Issue, “Integrating Biodiversity, Ecology, and Management in Shark Research”, aims to bring together cutting-edge contributions that advance our knowledge of shark diversity and biology while also addressing the urgent challenges of conservation and management. We welcome studies that integrate perspectives from taxonomy, systematics, genomics, and morphology, as well as those that focus on ecology, behaviour, fishery interactions, and ecosystem services. Applied research on conservation strategies, management frameworks, and policy implications are also strongly encouraged.

By highlighting interdisciplinary approaches and case studies from different regions of the world, this Special Issue seeks to foster a comprehensive understanding of sharks as both biological entities and conservation priorities. This will provide a platform for advancing science-based strategies to ensure the persistence of shark populations and the ecosystems they support in a rapidly changing ocean.

Prof. Dr. Carlos Bustamante
Prof. Dr. Carlos J. Polo-Silva
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • taxonomy and systematics
  • fishery management
  • reproductive biology
  • trophic ecology
  • movement ecology
  • policy and governance
  • conservation strategies

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

31 pages, 9364 KB  
Article
An Ecomorphological Description of Malacoraja (Rajidae) in Waters of Eastern Canada
by David W. Kulka, Carolyn M. Miri and Mark R. Simpson
Diversity 2026, 18(3), 178; https://doi.org/10.3390/d18030178 - 16 Mar 2026
Viewed by 141
Abstract
We examine the population structure, habitat associations, spatial ecology, morphometrics, meristics and reproductive attributes of two species in the genus Malacoraja of Canada. M. senta, the only shelf-dwelling species of the genus, is also atypical of Rajidae, and marine fish in general, [...] Read more.
We examine the population structure, habitat associations, spatial ecology, morphometrics, meristics and reproductive attributes of two species in the genus Malacoraja of Canada. M. senta, the only shelf-dwelling species of the genus, is also atypical of Rajidae, and marine fish in general, in forming disjunct populations. This unusual spatial structure appears to be the result of a fragmented thermal habitat. At the northern, coldest extent of their range, M. senta occur only within the troughs where temperatures are >3 °C, comparable to the thermal habitat further south. M. spinacidermis, consistent with its other congeners, is slope-dwelling, reaching the highest density at >900 m, concentrating in 3.1–4.0 °C. The two species are of a similar size and body proportions but less spiny for M. spinacidermis. Body and tail size and spine counts underwent allometric changes with growth. L50 could not be determined for all populations, but Laurentian population L50 was 45 cm for females, 51 cm for males; Funk males, 45 cm. Size at first maturity was similar between species. This pattern of maturity is reflected in the secondary sexual characteristics. There was partial separation of maturity stages by depth for M. senta, with immature fish distributing in greater depths. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrating Biodiversity, Ecology, and Management in Shark Research)
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20 pages, 1259 KB  
Article
Preliminary Observations of Environmental Effects on Immature Whale Shark Surface Feeding Behaviour in Nosy Be, Madagascar
by Primo Micarelli, Andrea Marsella, Federica Sironi, Isabella Buttino, Stefano Aicardi, Antonio Pacifico, Francesca Ellero and Francesca Romana Reinero
Diversity 2026, 18(3), 136; https://doi.org/10.3390/d18030136 - 26 Feb 2026
Viewed by 345
Abstract
Nosy Be in the northwestern Madagascar hosts one of the largest known seasonal feeding aggregations of whale sharks. However, the environmental drivers influencing whale shark surface feeding behaviour in this area remain poorly understood. This study investigates the relationship between environmental variability and [...] Read more.
Nosy Be in the northwestern Madagascar hosts one of the largest known seasonal feeding aggregations of whale sharks. However, the environmental drivers influencing whale shark surface feeding behaviour in this area remain poorly understood. This study investigates the relationship between environmental variability and surface feeding strategies of immature whale sharks at Nosy Be. Boat-based surveys were conducted in November 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023, resulting in the photo-identification of 88 individuals and the recording of 85 surface feeding events. The influence of environmental factors on feeding behaviour was assessed using multicollinearity among the environmental covariates and three-level step approach: permanova, multinomial logistic regression, marginal effects, and Cochran’s Q, to evaluate whether environmental conditions discriminate feeding-behaviour categories and to quantify how individual covariates relate to behavioural composition under a multi-step framework. Results showed that there is not a strong enough predictive signal for behaviour based on environmental variables; however, thanks to the marginal effects, it is possible to better assess the probability of a certain type of eating behaviour in the presence of an increase in one of the environmental variables, for example, chlorophyll-a appears to be the most interesting, because its increase is associated with a greater probability of some behaviours instead the others. These preliminary observations provide the first insights to evaluate environmental influences on immature whale shark surface feeding behaviour in Nosy Be, highlighting that it is therefore necessary to deepen and increase data collection to have long and significant series of data, integrated also with data on the preys subject to feeding behaviour and to evaluate which other unobserved aspects, perhaps linked precisely to the consistency and quality of the prey, could allow us to predict feeding behaviour. Improving the understanding of these relationships is essential for predicting whale shark habitat use and for supporting conservation and management strategies in a region increasingly affected by climate variability and anthropogenic pressures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrating Biodiversity, Ecology, and Management in Shark Research)
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17 pages, 1247 KB  
Article
Morphometric Relations Within Elasmobranch Species from the Amvrakikos Gulf (Central Mediterranean)
by Martina Ciprian, Ioannis Giovos, Carlotta Mazzoldi and Dimitrios K. Moutopoulos
Diversity 2026, 18(1), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/d18010041 - 13 Jan 2026
Viewed by 624
Abstract
Despite their ecological and conservation significance, morphometric relations remain scarce for elasmobranch species in the Mediterranean. This study examined morphometric parameters of the eight elasmobranch species (one shark and seven batoids) presented in the Amvrakikos Gulf that has been designated as a National [...] Read more.
Despite their ecological and conservation significance, morphometric relations remain scarce for elasmobranch species in the Mediterranean. This study examined morphometric parameters of the eight elasmobranch species (one shark and seven batoids) presented in the Amvrakikos Gulf that has been designated as a National Park. A total of 1247 specimens were sampled between 2022 and 2025, caught by small-scale fishing vessels using trammel nets, gillnets or bottom longlines and collected through onboard surveys or landing sites monitoring. Linear regressions were applied to describe relations between total length and other body measures (disc length, disc width, fork length), and length measurements and body weight. Results showed strong relations across morphometric traits, with R2 values exceeding 0.655 for most relations. Growth patterns varied: four species (Aetomylaeus bovinus, Dasyatis pastinaca, D. tortonesei, Mustelus mustelus) exhibited positive allometry, one species (D. marmorata) displayed negative allometry and Gymnura altavela showed near-isometric growth. Sexual dimorphism was generally absent, although significant differences were found between sex in disc width slopes for D. marmorata, Myliobatis aquila and Torpedo torpedo, and in length–weight relations for M. mustelus. These findings substantially fill regional data gaps, offering new baseline estimates for rare and threatened elasmobranchs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Integrating Biodiversity, Ecology, and Management in Shark Research)
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