A global survey reveals that common species of coral reef shark are in sharp decline, and rays are more abundant in reefs where sharks have been depleted
. In remote reefs, or in areas where reefs were inside effective marine protected areas , the sharks are far more abundant, he says – and this was more often the case in higher-income nations.Sign up to our Wild Wild Life newsletterSign up to newsletter
In many reefs where shark numbers have plummeted, ray numbers have increased, the study found. Numbers of yellow and southern stingrays in the Atlantic, and blue-spotted maskrays and blue-spotted ribbontail rays in the Indo-Pacific, were higher in places where one or more reef shark species were depleted. “We goThese trends have a “cascading” effect throughout the entire reef ecology, he says. For example, without sharks to prey on them, the numbers of herbivorous fish soar.
Simpfendorfer says countries with coral reefs should be given more support to enforce MPAs. “One of the things that comes through very clearly is that MPAs which are well enforced are able to actually recover reef shark populations fairly quickly,” he says.
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