Female wound records suggest mating periods for the Caribbean reef shark at an insular marine protected area from the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean

• Published in: Journal of Fish Biology
• Main Authors: Rangel, Bianca S., Afonso, André S., Garla, Ricardo
• Other Authors: Brazilian Biodivesity Fund, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2022
• Subjects: South Atlantic Ocean
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15212; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jfb.15212; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/jfb.15212

Abstract Despite being one of the most abundant, economically significant, reef‐associated shark species, little is known about the reproductive aspects of the Caribbean reef shark ( Carcharhinus perezi ). In the present study the authors report the first evidence of mating wounds and scars in female Caribbean reef sharks at the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, a remote marine protected area in the South Atlantic Ocean. Data from four females suggest this species mates mainly during the austral summer, between February and March. Given that the archipelago has been previously described as a nursery ground for the Caribbean reef shark, these results add information about the reproductive cycle of this species in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean.