Identifying priority sites for whale shark ship collision management globally.

The expansion of the world's merchant fleet poses a great threat to the ocean's biodiversity. Collisions between ships and marine megafauna can have population-level consequences for vulnerable species. The Endangered whale shark (Rhincodon typus) shares a circumglobal distribution with this expanding fleet and tracking of movement pathways has shown that large vessel collisions pose a major threat to the species.

Bioaccumulation of trace elements and hydrocarbons in chondrichthyans of the western Arabian Gulf: Environmental and human health risk assessment and implications for conservation.

This is a first attempt to assess the levels of trace elements, PAHs, and TPHs in six elasmobranch species (Carcharhinus dussumieri, C. sorrah, Chiloscyllium arabicum, Gymnura poecilura, Sphyrna lewini, S. mokarran) from the Arabian Gulf.

() sp. nov., A New Species of Sleeper Shark (Squaliformes: Somniosidae) from Eastern Taiwan, with Aspects of Embryo Biology.

A new species of sleeper shark is described based on a 134.0 cm total length pregnant female collected from off Hualien, eastern Taiwan. The species belongs to a small species group (subgenus ) and can be distinguished from its congeners in having a smaller second dorsal fin, smaller eyes, more rows of teeth in the upper jaw and fewer in the lower jaw, and a different body proportion.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the salmon shark, Lamna ditropis (Chondrichthyes, Lamnidae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of the salmon shark consists of 16,699 bp and includes 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 1 replication origin region and 1 control region. The mitochondrial gene arrangement of the salmon shark is the same as that of most vertebrates. Base composition of the genome is A (29.

Records of new and rare elasmobranchs from Taiwan.

Five new records of elasmobranchs collected from eastern Taiwan fish markets, Da-xi and Cheng-gong, are presented. Samples were caught by deepsea longliners and bottom trawlers which operate in northeastern waters off Taiwan between 2004 and 2012. These five new species records include the smalltooth sandtiger, Odontaspis ferox (Risso, 1810) (Lamniformes: Odontaspididae), salamander shark, Parmaturus pilosus Garman, 1906 (Carcharhiniformes: Scyliorhinidae), leadhued skate Notoraja tobitukai (Hiyama, 1940) (Rajiformes: Arhynchobatidae), giant skate Dipturus gigas (Ishiyama, 1958) (Rajiformes: Rajidae), and the pelagic stingray Pteroplatytrygon violacea (Bonaparte, 1832) (Myliobatiformes: Dasyatidae), Diagnostic characteristics for each species are given and a key to the genera Parmaturus and Dipturus from Taiwan is presented.