Ehemann Nicolás, Acosta-Rodríguez Edilia, Tagliafico Alejandro, Pelletier Nicole, Stevens Guy
Instituto Politécnico Nacional - Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR-IPN), La Paz, Mexico.
Universidad de Oriente - Escuela de Ciencias Aplicadas del Mar Núcleo Nueva Esparta, Calle Principal - La Marina, Boca del Río, Venezuela.
J Fish Biol. 2022 Jul;101(1):213-225. doi: 10.1111/jfb.15088. Epub 2022 Jun 7.
Manta and devil rays (collectively mobulids) belong to the monogeneric Mobulidae, which currently comprises 10 species, including a putative third manta ray species (Mobula cf. birostris). These large planktivorous rays are distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical oceans of the world. To date, six mobulid species are reported for the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, three of which had previously been reported in Venezuela (Mobula birostris, Mobula tarapacana and Mobula hypostoma). A preliminary assessment of fishery landings and citizen science data was conducted to further the scientific knowledge of mobulid species in Venezuela. Fisheries landing data were collected at Margarita Island between 2006 and 2007, and again in 2014. Data mining of internet search engines and social media platforms spanning the past two decades was also conducted. A total of 117 individuals of five mobulid species were recorded: Mobula sp. (n = 27), M. birostris (n = 36), M. tarapacana (n = 3), Mobula mobular (n = 26), Mobula thurstoni (n = 14) and M. cf. birostris (n = 11). The latter three species are the first confirmation of these species in Venezuela. The authors found no records of the previously reported M. hypostoma during this study. Although the occurrence of M. hypostoma in Venezuela remains possible because of the broad regional range of this species, its current presence in Venezuela is invalidated given the repeated misidentifications which have occurred in previous publications. The results of this study increase the number of reported mobulid ray species in Venezuela to five (excluding M. hypostoma). The overall data from juvenile manta rays and pregnant M. mobular and M. thurstoni recorded in this study, combined with the occurrence of all but one species of mobulid ray found in the western Atlantic Ocean, suggest Venezuela provides important habitat for this threatened family of rays.
蝠鲼和魟（统称为鲼科鱼类）属于单属的鲼科，目前该科包含10个物种，其中包括一种假定的第三种蝠鲼（Mobula cf. birostris）。这些大型浮游生物食性的鲼类分布于全球热带和亚热带海洋。迄今为止，西大西洋和加勒比海已报告有6种鲼科鱼类，其中3种此前已在委内瑞拉被报道过（双吻前口蝠鲼、塔拉帕卡前口蝠鲼和低口前口蝠鲼）。为了增进对委内瑞拉鲼科鱼类的科学认识，对渔业上岸量和公民科学数据进行了初步评估。2006年至2007年以及2014年在玛格丽塔岛收集了渔业上岸数据。还对过去二十年的互联网搜索引擎和社交媒体平台进行了数据挖掘。共记录了5种鲼科鱼类的117个个体：前口蝠鲼属（n = 27）、双吻前口蝠鲼（n = 36）、塔拉帕卡前口蝠鲼（n = 3）、鲼属（n = 26）、托氏前口蝠鲼（n = 14）和疑似双吻前口蝠鲼（n = 11）。后三种物种首次在委内瑞拉得到确认。作者在本研究中未发现此前报道的低口前口蝠鲼的记录。尽管鉴于该物种广泛的区域分布范围，其在委内瑞拉出现仍有可能，但鉴于此前出版物中反复出现的错误鉴定，其目前在委内瑞拉的存在已被否定。本研究结果将委内瑞拉报告的鲼科鱼类物种数量增加到5种（不包括低口前口蝠鲼）。本研究中记录的幼年蝠鲼以及怀孕的鲼属和托氏前口蝠鲼的总体数据，再加上在西大西洋发现的除一种之外的所有鲼科鱼类物种，表明委内瑞拉为这个受威胁的鲼类家族提供了重要栖息地。
