Mediterranean Sharks & Rays
The Mediterranean Sea is one of the biodiversity hotspots for elasmobranchs – sharks and rays- in the world, with around 85 species living in its waters (47 sharks and 38 rays), which is around 7% of the world’s elasmobranch species.
Elasmobranchs’ skeletons are made of cartilage instead of bone (with some areas of calcification). Sharks have a long and rounded body shape (except for some flat-sharks like angel sharks, for example), have 5-7 pairs of gill slits always on the sides of the head, 1 or 2 dorsal fins and the pectoral fins are free (not fused to the head). Skates and rays have a flat body, with 5 pairs of gill slits in the ventral zone and pectoral fins fused to the head.
Sharks and rays are among the most endangered groups of marine animals and include many species for which there is little information on abundance and distribution. Sharks and rays are characterised by low productivity associated with low fecundity, a slow growth rate, very few pups, and late sexual maturation. This makes them highly sensitive to fishing pressure and other threats as they have very limited capacity to recover from depletions.
The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most dangerous places for elasmobranchs in the world, with nearly 50% of its species under threat. Among them, the Mediterranean is host to some of the more threatened species in the world like guitarfishes and angel sharks. Overfishing is the most important threat but, pollution and habitat destruction are some of the other threats that elasmobranchs are facing in the Mediterranean Sea.
There are also a few elasmobranchs that are endemic to the Mediterranean: three batoid species; the Maltese Skate (Leucoraja melitensis), the Speckled Skate (Raja polystigma) and the Rough Ray (R. radula), which could be considered endemic.
If you want more information about our projects related to sharks and rays in the Mediterranean visit:
