'Resurrected' Shark Species Found Dwelling Deep in the Atlantic

By Stephanie Pappas, Live Science Contributor | March 1, 2018 01:10pm ET

Scientists have discovered a new species of shark cruising the Atlantic Ocean.

The Atlantic sixgill shark is a deep-sea dweller that gives birth to sweet-faced pups. It was long thought to be part of a global species of sixgill shark known as Hexanchus nakamurai, but new genetic evidence reveals that it's a separate species. Researchers have dubbed the newly discovered shark Hexanchus vitulus.

"We showed that the sixgills in the Atlantic are actually very different from the ones in the Indian and Pacific Oceans on a molecular level, to the point where it is obvious that they're a different species even though they look very similar to the naked eye," Toby Daly-Engel, a shark scientist at the Florida Institute of Technology, said in a statement.[On the Brink: A Gallery of Wild Sharks]

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Why are there no sea snakes in the Atlantic?

Date:  November 29, 2017

Source:  Florida Museum of Natural History

Summary:

There is a glaring gap in sea snakes' near-global distribution: the Atlantic Ocean. Biologists chalk up the absence of sea snakes in the Atlantic to geography, climate and timing.

They sport a range of physical adaptations for life at sea, including a flattened oar-like tail for paddling and the abilities to smell underwater, hold their breath for hours and go for months without a drink. And although they're not powerful swimmers, they have spread throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans, ranging from Japan to New Zealand and from South Africa to Central America.

But there is a glaring gap in sea snakes' near-global distribution: the Atlantic Ocean.

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Whales Gobble Up Endangered European Eels

By Megan Gannon, News Editor | February 10, 2014 01:51pm ET

Rare European eels are thought to cross the Atlantic Ocean to breed, but not all of them finish the ambitious voyage. Some meet their end in the bellies of deep-diving whales, new research reveals.

Not only does the finding underscore the risks European eels face during their epic migration, but it also shows that whales may have a previously unknown appetite for eels.

Considered critically endangered, European eels (Anguilla anguilla) are found in increasingly small numbers in rivers, lakes and brackish waters across the continent from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia. Scientists think the fish travel thousands of miles each year to get to the Sargasso Sea, a calm expanse in the middle of the North Atlantic that is warmer, saltier, bluer and clearer than the surrounding waters. 

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Lionfish wreaking havoc on Atlantic Ocean

The lionfish is a prized aquarium species, best known for its vibrant stripes and spiky fins.

It is also venemous and a voracious predator with a population growing out of control in the Atlantic Ocean along the U.S. east coast. 

Long a concern for researchers and scientists, the lionfish is an invasive species in the Atlantic, and efforts to control the population have not been successfulaccording to the Christian Science Monitor.

“There is strong evidence that the lionfish is having negative effects on the native population,” Oregon State scientist Stephanie Green told CSM. “We don’t see any signal that anything is controlling lionfish population.”

The problem is that the lionfish, which is native to the western Pacific, has no natural predators in the Atlantic Ocean. They live up to 15 years, and one female can produce as many as 2 million eggs in one year. That adds up to a whole lot of hungry lionfish. Estimates have the Atlantic population increasing 700 percent from 2004-08 alone.

Growing up to 18 inches long, lionfish are skilled hunters known to eat just about anything they can fit in their mouths. CSM estimates that about 70 percent of the Atlantic’s fish species is on the lionfish’s menu and that at least 40 native species have suffered thanks to the lionfish. They are especially threatening to native coral and have been found with fatty livers from gorging so much on Atlantic Ocean natives.

How did the lionfish show up in the Atlantic? Theories range from displeased aquarium owners dumping them into the ocean to Hurricane Andrew having swept pet lionfish into the ocean in its wake when it devastated South Florida in 1992. Scientists believe as few as six lionfish introduced to the Atlantic led to the boom that exists today.

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Meet Yoda, the deep-sea acorn worm

A worm from an ecosystem far, far away on the ocean floor has been named after the Star Wars character Yoda.

Yoda purpurata is one of three new species of deep-sea acorn worms discovered 1.5 miles beneath the Atlantic.

Scientists coined the name after large lips on either side of the creature's head reminded them of the Jedi master's floppy ears.

The other part of the worm's name is Latin for purple and describes its colour.

The Yoda worm, technically known as an enteropneust, is described in the latest issue of the journal Invertebrate Biology.

A remotely-operated robot submersible collected the specimen during a research mission along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between Iceland and the Azores.

Professor Monty Priede, from the University of Aberdeen, said: "Our colleague in California, Nick Holland, the world authority on enteropneusts, chose the name Yoda for the new genus characterised by its large ear-like lips.

"There is much interest in acorn worms from the point of view of understanding the early evolution of the vertebrates. Whilst they are not strictly a missing link in our own evolution, they give an insight into what the lifestyle of our remote ancestors might have been like."

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/meet-yoda-deep-sea-acorn-worm-130200702.html

Epic Journeys of Turtles Revealed - Leatherbacks in the Atlantic

(PhysOrg.com) --1/15/11 The epic ocean-spanning journeys of the gigantic leatherback turtle in the South Atlantic have been revealed for the first time thanks to groundbreaking research using satellite tracking.

Experts at the Centre for Ecology and Conservation (Cornwall) at the University of Exeter led a five-year study to find out more about these increasingly rare creatures and inform conservation efforts.

The research, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B today, has shed new light on the little-known migration behaviour of these animals following their movement from the world's largest breeding colony in Gabon, Central Africa, as they returned to feeding grounds across the South Atlantic.

The research has been carried out with the help of Parcs Gabon, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), PTMG (Marine Turtle Partnership for Gabon), the Trans-Atlantic Leatherback Conservation Initiative (TALCIN) - a multi-partner effort coordinated by WWF, and SEATURTLE.org.

Out of 25 females studied in the new research, three migratory routes were identified including one 7,563km (4,699 mile) journey straight across the South Atlantic from Africa to South America.

Other routes still involved large distances, as they moved from Gabon to food-rich habitats in the southwest and southeast Atlantic and off the coast of Central Africa. They will stay in these areas for 2-5 years to build up the reserves to reproduce, when they will return to Gabon once again.

Dr Matthew Witt said: "Despite extensive research carried out on leatherbacks, no-one has really been sure about the journeys they take in the South Atlantic until now. What we've shown is that there are three clear migration routes as they head back to feeding grounds after breeding in Gabon, although the numbers adopting each strategy varied each year. We don't know what influences that choice yet, but we do know these are truly remarkable journeys – with one female tracked for thousands of miles travelling in a straight line right across the Atlantic."

In the Pacific ocean, leatherback turtles have seen a precipitous decline over the past three decades – with one nesting colony in Mexico declining from 70,000 in 1982 to just 250 by 1998-9*. The exact cause of the dramatic fall-off in numbers is not clear, but turtle egg harvesting, coastal gillnet fishing, and longline fishing have been identified as potential factors.

Atlantic Ocean migratory sharks not covered by fisheries management

OCEANA, the world’s largest international ocean conservation organization, released a new report today that estimates that more than 1.3 million highly migratory sharks were caught in the Atlantic Ocean during 2008, without international fisheries management.


This estimate demonstrates the need for protections of highly migratory sharks at the 17th Special Meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), currently underway in Paris, France.

“Sharks are the elephant in the room,” said Rebecca Greenberg, marine scientist at Oceana. “Too many sharks are being caught in the Atlantic Ocean for ICCAT to pretend there is not a problem. Many shark populations are in much worse shape than other fish species already managed by ICCAT.”

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 72 shark species are listed as “highly migratory” and are therefore designated as requiring management by international bodies. 21 of these species were reported to be caught in ICCAT waters in 2008, representing a catch of more than 65,000 tonnes. Based on the average weight of each species caught, Oceana estimates this to be more than 1.3 million highly migratory sharks. Of these 21 species, three quarters are classified as threatened with extinction in parts of the Atlantic Ocean, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Yet sharks remain all but unmanaged by ICCAT, with the exception of a weak finning ban and a prohibition on retaining bigeye thresher sharks.

Furthermore, Oceana believes 1.3 million sharks is a gross underestimate of the true mortality. In 2008, 11 out of the 48 countries that participate in ICCAT did not report any shark catches and current shark catch data in ICCAT is generally acknowledged to be inadequate at best. In fact, scientific estimates based on Hong Kong shark fin trade data have shown that real shark catches in the Atlantic may be more than three times higher than what is reported to ICCAT.

“Sharks are virtually unmanaged at the international level,” said Elizabeth Griffin Wilson, marine scientist and fisheries campaign manager at Oceana. “ICCAT has a responsibility to protect sharks. It is time to protect our ocean’s top predators.”

Many highly migratory shark populations in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea are significantly overexploited. For example, the North Atlantic population of oceanic whitetips has declined by an estimated 70 percent and hammerheads have declined by more than 99 percent in the Mediterranean. Despite this unacceptable situation, managers have all but ignored their responsibilities to protect sharks.

Oceana is calling on ICCAT to implement the following protections for sharks:

•Prohibit the capture of endangered and vulnerable species, including hammerhead, oceanic whitetip, common thresher and porbeagle sharks;
•Establish science-based, precautionary catch limits for other commonly caught species in ICCAT fisheries, especially for at-risk shortfin mako sharks; and
•Improve the ICCAT shark finning ban by requiring sharks to be landed whole, with their fins still naturally attached

For more information about ICCAT and sharks, and for downloadable images, please visit www.oceana.org/ICCAT.

http://www.fishnewseu.com/latest-news/world/4743-atlantic-ocean-migratory-sharks-not-covered-by-fisheries-management.html