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Recent occurrences of basking sharks, Cetorhinus maximus (Chondrichthyes: Cetorhinidae), in the Gulf of Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2011

Eric R. Hoffmayer ,
William B. Driggers III ,
James S. Franks ,
David S. Hanisko ,
Mitchell A. Roffer  and
Linda E. Cavitt
Eric R. Hoffmayer*
Affiliation:
National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Mississippi Laboratories, 3209 Frederick Street, Pascagoula, MS 39567, USA
William B. Driggers III
Affiliation:
National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Mississippi Laboratories, 3209 Frederick Street, Pascagoula, MS 39567, USA
James S. Franks
Affiliation:
Center for Fisheries Research and Development, The University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, MS 39564, USA
David S. Hanisko
Affiliation:
National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Mississippi Laboratories, 3209 Frederick Street, Pascagoula, MS 39567, USA
Mitchell A. Roffer
Affiliation:
Roffer's Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service, Inc., 60 Westover Drive, West Melbourne, Florida 32904, USA
Linda E. Cavitt
Affiliation:
No address provided
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: E.R. Hoffmayer, National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Mississippi Laboratories, 3209 Frederic Street, Pascagoula, MS, 39567, USA email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The first documented occurrence of a basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, in the Gulf of Mexico was reported off Sarasota, Florida in 1969 and was considered peculiar as the species is considered to be limited to cold water habitats. Recently, four separate sightings of individual basking sharks within the northern Gulf of Mexico have occurred indicating the species, while not common, might not be as rare in the region as once considered. All four sightings occurred in shallow coastal waters off northern Florida during March of 2010, 2011. Analyses of satellite imagery indicated that the presence of basking sharks in north-eastern Gulf of Mexico waters coincided with an intrusion of oceanic Loop Current waters into coastal waters.

Keywords

elasmobranchLamniformesCetorhinidaeFloridaLoop Current
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 4 , December 2011 , e87
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011

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References

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