Lost before found: A new species of whaler shark Carcharhinus obsolerus from the Western Central Pacific known only from historic records

Carcharhinus obsolerus is described based on three specimens from Borneo, Thailand and Vietnam in the Western Central Pacific. It belongs to the porosus subgroup which is characterised by having the second dorsal-fin insertion opposite the anal-fin midbase. It most closely resembles C. borneensis bu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2019-01, Vol.14 (1), p.e0209387-e0209387
Main Authors: White, William T, Kyne, Peter M, Harris, Mark
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Aquatic mammals
Biology
Biology and Life Sciences
Borneo
Carcharhinus
Computer and Information Sciences
Diagnostic systems
Ecosystems
Endangered Species - history
Female
Fisheries
Fisheries management
Fishing
Historic records
History, 20th Century
History, 21st Century
Identification
Jaw - anatomy & histology
Life sciences
Male
Marine environment
Medicine and Health Sciences
Morphology
Museums
New records
New species
Pacific Ocean
Publishing
Sharks
Sharks - anatomy & histology
Sharks - classification
Species extinction
Species Specificity
Studies
Subgroups
Taxonomy
Teeth
Thailand
Threatened species
Tooth - anatomy & histology
Vietnam
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Description
Summary:Carcharhinus obsolerus is described based on three specimens from Borneo, Thailand and Vietnam in the Western Central Pacific. It belongs to the porosus subgroup which is characterised by having the second dorsal-fin insertion opposite the anal-fin midbase. It most closely resembles C. borneensis but differs in tooth morphology and counts and a number of morphological characters, including lack of enlarged hyomandibular pores which are diagnostic of C. borneensis. The historic range of C. obsolerus sp. nov. is under intense fishing pressure and this species has not been recorded anywhere in over 80 years. There is an urgent need to assess its extinction risk status for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. With so few known records, there is a possibility that Carcharhinus obsolerus sp. nov. has been lost from the marine environment before any understanding could be gained of its full historic distribution, biology, ecosystem role, and importance in local fisheries.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0209387