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USC biology associate professor Joe Quattro, collaborating with Jim Grady at the University of New Orleans and Trey Driggers with the National Marine Fisheries Service, has discovered a genetically distinct species of the hammerhead shark.
Classified under the genus, sphyrna, the species is the ninth recognized in the hammerhead family and will be called the "cryptic species" until a formal description is pronounced.
Because the species appears to be rare and localized to the South Carolina coast, it is at high risk for extinction and makes the state's coastal waters crucial for conservation efforts. Many shark species in the northwestern Atlantic have declined in recent years.
Quattro discovered the species while studying coastal fish with biologists from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
Although scientists don't know why the cryptic sharks appear to prefer South Carolina waters, Quattro speculates that something as simple as salinity differences in the waters may be a factor.
"Protecting this prime nursery habitat is vital to the survival of the cryptic species," said Quattro, who is in the Atlantic Ocean this summer for a project to tag the cryptic sharks. The tags will enable the researchers to learn where the sharks go after leaving South Carolina's waters.
Because the cryptic shark appears to have a narrow geographic distribution, it is at a greater risk for extinction, he said, and conservation efforts are needed to protect females during their reproductive season.
"If South Carolina's waters are the primary nursery grounds for the cryptic species and females gather here to reproduce, these areas should be conservation priorities," Quattro said. "Management plans are needed to ensure that these sharks are not adversely impacted so that we can learn more."
7/06
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Shark specimen found by Joe Quattro, biology
