Alec B. M. MooreBangor University · School of Ocean Sciences
Alec B. M. Moore
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39
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Citations since 2017
Publications
Publications (39)
Online research methods are increasingly used in conservation science to monitor and collect data on online wildlife trade. Shark‐like rays (Rhinopristiformes) are among the most threatened vertebrates, prized for their high‐value fins while other uses for their derivatives are largely unrecognized in the literature. The bowmouth guitarfish (Rhina...
The edible crab Cancer pagurus supports a valuable northeast Atlantic fishery, but concerns have been raised about declining catches and its management relies heavily on minimum landing sizes (MLSs). Furthermore, few data are available on spatial and particularly temporal variation in maturity of this and other crab species. Here we estimated size...
Historical sources can provide important data for modern-day threatened species conservation, such as identifying formerly important habitat on which to focus recovery efforts. Here we reveal unique written archival material from the 1740s that provides reliable first-hand observations of the Critically Endangered angel shark Squatina squatina, ext...
Wales is one of the only places in north-west Europe with regular sightings of the Critically Endangered Angelshark (Squatina squatina) over the last decade. This species is protected in Wales, through inclusion on both the ‘Wildlife and Countryside Act’ and ‘Environment (Wales) Act’ (Table 1), but little is known about its status, ecology or locat...
A new stingray, Hemitrygon yemenensis sp. nov., is described from old preserved material collected on the Arabian Sea coast of eastern Yemen. Consistent with other members of the genus, H. yemenensis sp. nov. is a small dasyatid (males mature at ~22 cm disc width), but it is the only Hemitrygon known to occur outside the western Pacific and eastern...
Conservation and management of marine biodiversity depends on biomonitoring of marine habitats, but current approaches are resource-intensive and require different approaches for different organisms. Environmental DNA (eDNA) extracted from water samples is an efficient and versatile approach to detecting aquatic animals. In the ocean, eDNA composit...
Developing nations in tropical regions harbour rich biological resources on which humans depend for food, income and employment, yet data to aid their management is often lacking. In West Africa, the diversity and fisheries of elasmobranchs are poorly documented, despite them being known to be economically important and vulnerable to overexploitati...
The extinction risk of sharks, rays and chimaeras is higher than that for most other vertebrates due to low intrinsic population growth rates of many species and the fishing intensity they face. The Arabian Sea and adjacent waters border some of the
most important chondrichthyan fishing and trading nations globally, yet there has
been no previous a...
Conservation often focuses on “critical habitat” including areas important for the reproduction of threatened taxa. As for many aquatic species a priority of shark conservation is the protection of nurseries, yet few countries can support the costly fieldwork required to identify these according to strict criteria. Alternative approaches are theref...
Focusing on the most critical conservation priorities to prevent extinctions risks missing declines of lower priority taxa that may become tomorrow’s emergency. Sawfishes (5 species) underwent catastrophic but largely unnoticed global declines in the latter 20th century, and are now the subject of intensive research and conservation efforts. Guitar...
The present study provides information on length distribution, reproductive biology and diet of Mustelus mosis based on individuals caught in waters off the eastern Arabian Peninsula. Although ageing of vertebral centra was attempted, band pairs were of low clarity and counts could not be confidently assigned.
To address the paucity of information on the spatial and temporal composition of elasmobranch fish assemblages in the Arabian region, data from fisheries surveys around Kuwait's Boubyan Island, in the Tigris-Euphrates-Karun delta at the head of the Arabian (Persian) Gulf were examined. A total number of 461 elasmobranchs consisting of at least 13 t...
A scalloped hammerhead
Sphyrna lewini
was observed opportunistically from a remotely operated vehicle 1 m off the seabed at 1042 m depth, during hydrocarbon exploration activities in the Ruvuma Basin off Tanzania. The observation, which occurred during night hours, is the deepest accurately recorded for this species and the first deep-water record...
Kuwait's waters are one of only two locations where the smoothtooth blacktip shark Carcharhinus leiodon is known to occur. Concentrations of 11 trace elements were analysed in five juvenile and two adult specimens of this coastal predator. Concentrations of lead in muscle increased with length, whilst manganese concentration decreased. Arsenic conc...
The northwestern Indian Ocean harbors a number of larger marine vertebrate taxa that warrant the investigation of genetic population structure given remarkable spatial heterogeneity in biological characteristics such as distribution, behavior, and morphology. Here, we investigate the genetic population structure of four commercially exploited shark...
Table S1. Number of tissue samples obtained from all landing sites and fish markets for Carcharhinus limbatus, C. sorrah, Rhizoprionodon acutus, and Sphyrna lewini.
Table S2. Microsatellite loci used with their respective annealing temperatures (°C), sample size (N), number of alleles (Na), number of effective alleles (Ne), average observed (Ho), e...
A total of 10 abnormal free-swimming (i.e. post-birth) elasmobranchs are reported from The (Persian-Arabian) Gulf, encompassing five species and including deformed heads, snouts, caudal fins and claspers. The complete absence of pelvic fins in a milk shark Rhizoprionodon acutus may be the first record in any elasmobranch. Possible causes, including...
The Gulf has a unique diversity of sharks and rays, but for many years their correct identification has been problematic. This fully illustrated book - the first of its kind to focus on the Gulf - brings together the latest research and years of work by the authors to provide a clear and comprehensive guidebook. For each species known to occur in t...
Sawfishes (Pristidae) are large shark-like batoids (rays) that are among the most threatened of all marine fishes. While there is a broad consensus of severe sawfish declines globally, detailed status assessments for most of their vast circumtropical distribution do not exist. This paper reviews sawfishes of waters adjacent to the Arabian Peninsula...
The eagle ray Aetobatus flagellum (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) is redescribed based on new material from the Persian Gulf (Kuwait), Indonesia and Malaysia. A related but distinct species of Aetobatus from the western North Pacific, previously referred to as A. flagellum, is reported. Aetobatus flagellum is a medium-sized eagle ray which attains about...
The first detailed elasmobranch fisheries data for the Kingdom of Bahrain are presented, based on surveys of fish markets in April 2012. At least 25 species were recorded, including undescribed taxa. The milk shark Rhizoprionodon acutus was the most frequently recorded species; together with the Arabian smoothhound Mustelus mosis and banded eagle r...
The colonisation of new areas by species from outside the immediate environment is an important natural ecological process. However, human activities are rapidly increasing the number and rate of species introductions worldwide and linking areas that would otherwise be unconnected through natural colonisation processes. When introduced species beco...
New biological data relevant to the conservation of the rare and threatened shark Carcharhinus leiodon are presented, based on specimens sampled in fish markets in Kuwait, the UAE and Yemen. The maximum size of this species is extended to 1648 mm total length (TL); females are mature by at least 1312 mm TL and demonstrate placental viviparity with...
Records are presented of several species of batoid fish from the north-western Indian Ocean that are poorly known, of taxonomic interest, or of conservation concern. For the Persian (Arabian) Gulf, the first records of Rhinobatos halavi, Himantura fai, and the first substantiated record of a devil ray (Mobulidae), provisionally identified as Mobula...
A new whipray, Himantura randalli sp. nov., described from material collected off Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, appears to be endemic to the Persian Gulf. It has been frequently confused with forms of the more widely distributed whipray Himantura gerrardi Gray and other presently unidentified species from the Indian Ocean. Himantura randalli sp. nov....
This paper presents data from the first major survey of the diversity, biology and fisheries of elasmobranchs in the Persian (Arabian) Gulf. Substantial landings of elasmobranchs, usually as gillnet by-catch, were recorded in Kuwait, Qatar and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (part of the United Arab Emirates), although larger elasmobranchs from targeted l...
The first evidence-based checklist of sharks of the Persian (Arabian) Gulf is presented based on appraisal of primary literature and new data, including identifications verified by COI barcoding. Evidence of the occurrence of 26 species in the Gulf is presented, and the possible presence of a further 17 species is discussed. Carcharhinidae is the m...
Given widespread concern about the status of elasmobranch fishes globally, information on this group in the Persian (Arabian)
Gulf is reviewed comprehensively for the first time. The Arabian region may be of overlooked significance to elasmobranch
biogeography, and the environmentally unique Gulf has some highly distinctive elements of biodiversity...
The smoothtooth blacktip shark, Carcharhinus leiodon, is one of the rarest whaler shark species of the genus Carcharhinus, previously known only from the holotype collected over 100 years ago from the Arabian Sea coast of Yemen. Recent market surveys in the Persian (Arabian) Gulf rediscovered 25 specimens (,2% of individual sharks recorded) in Kuwa...
The diversity of the shark fauna of the Persian (Arabian) Gulf is poorly documented. Based on surveys of fish markets in Kuwait and Qatar we provide the first Gulf records of the Sliteye Shark Loxodon macrorhinus, and the first substantiated records of Snaggletooth Shark Hemipristis elongatus, Graceful Shark Carcharhinus amblyrhynchoides and Hardno...
The metazoan parasites of 101 lesser-spotted dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula from locations off the coast of England (Plymouth and the eastern Solent) and Wales (Cardigan Bay) were surveyed and assessed for their potential as stock discrimination tools. A total of ten parasite species was found using a relatively rapid host examination technique suit...
The metazoan parasites of 101 lesser-spotted dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula from locations off the coast of England (Plymouth and the eastern Solent) and Wales (Cardigan Bay) were surveyed and assessed for their potential as stock discrimination tools. A total of ten parasite species was found using a relatively rapid host examination technique suit...
Diphterostomum betencourti is reported from the catshark Scyliorhinus canicula from the Solent off the Isle of Wight in southern England. This is the first record of this parasite in British waters. The species is partly redescribed from unflattened and flattened material. These specimens clearly show a distinct uterine seminal receptacle, a most u...
Projects
Projects (2)
This interdisciplinary project addresses the significance of local languages in valuing and conserving biodiversity in Southern Arabia. Within this area, Dhofar & Mahra are unique in receiving the monsoon rains. Dhofar, Mahra, Harasis, Soqotra & Musandam are renowned for their ecological and linguistic variety. We explore methods to ask to what extent erosion of language & environment are mutually reflected and reinforcing, interrogate the concept of value in language & nature, and produce tools for education and research. Qatar and Leeds construct a partnership of ecosystem, humanities, and social science scholars with local community experts. Activities include video conferences, workshops, educational and research materials, collaborative research, and academic exchanges.
