Results on main elasmobranch species captured during the 2001-2011 Porcupine Bank (NE Atlantic) bottom trawl surveys

• Main Authors: Ruiz-Pico, Susana, Baldó, Francisco, Velasco, Francisco, Fernández-Zapico, Olaya, Rodríguez-Cabello, Cristina
• Format: Report
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Pesquerías; Centro Oceanográfico de Santander; Canicula; Porcupine Bank; Common skate; North Atlantic; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10508/3745; http://hdl.handle.net/10261/326914

This working document presents the results on nine of the most important elasmobranch species of the Porcupine bank Spanish surveys during the last decade (2001-2011). The shark species more abundant in these surveys in biomass terms were blackmouth catshark (Galeus melastomus), birdbeak dogfish (Deania calcea), Knifetooth dogfish (Scymnodon ringens), velvet belly lantern shark (Etmopterus spinax), lesser spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula) and bluntnose sixgill shark (Hexanchus griseus); while sandy ray (Leucoraja circularis), cuckoo ray (Leucoraja naevus) and common skate (Dipturus spp. / Dipturus cf. flossada) were the more frequent Rajidae. Biomass, distribution and length ranges were analysed. Many of these species occupy mainly the deep areas covered in the survey, especially D. calcea and S. ringens.