eDNA metabarcoding reveals a rich but threatened and declining elasmobranch community in West Africa’s largest marine protected area, the Banc d’Arguin
de la Hoz Schilling, Carolina, Jabado, Rima W., Veríssimo, Ana, Caminiti, Luca, Sidina, Ebaye, Gandega, Cheikhna Yero, and Serrao, Ester A. (2024) eDNA metabarcoding reveals a rich but threatened and declining elasmobranch community in West Africa’s largest marine protected area, the Banc d’Arguin. Conservation Genetics, 25 (3). pp. 805-821.
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Abstract
Elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) are the most threatened marine vertebrates, particularly in tropical and subtropical areas. Their population status is often poorly understood due to insufficient information. Despite reportedly harbouring critical elasmobranch habitats, the Banc d’Arguin National Park (PNBA) in Mauritania lacks comprehensive and updated information on the diversity of elasmobranch species in the area. We developed a baseline inventory based on morphological and molecular identification and metabarcoding. DNA barcoding of tissue samples from elasmobranch processing sites and freshly sampled specimens was used to build a genetic reference database of local elasmobranch species. The richness and diversity of species in the PNBA were described via metabarcoding of seawater eDNA samples using an elasmobranch-specific assay and our reference database. We detected 27 species, including 12 new species records for the PNBA. We further uncover potentially undescribed species of Gymnura and Torpedo, while taxonomic corrections are noted for previously reported species. In particular, the reportedly abundant Mustelus mustelus was absent from tissue and eDNA samples, while M. punctulatus was detected instead. Taxa that have anecdotally become regionally extinct or rare (e.g., sawfishes, wedgefishes, lemon sharks) were not detected, highlighting local species diversity shifts within the last few decades. Results show that 67.9% of elasmobranch species in the PNBA are threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. This study emphasises the importance of taxonomic identification in support of species management and provides a baseline to inform future studies and conservation measures to avoid further species losses.
| Item ID: | 87264 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1572-9737 |
| Keywords: | Conservation, DNA barcoding, Environmental DNA, Mauritania, Rays, Sharks |
| Copyright Information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Nov 2025 00:41 |
| FoR Codes: | 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3105 Genetics > 310599 Genetics not elsewhere classified @ 30% 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410401 Conservation and biodiversity @ 30% 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310305 Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) @ 40% |
| SEO Codes: | 28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280102 Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences @ 100% |
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