ABSTRACT: Andreotti et al. (2016; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 552:241-253) estimate an abundance (N) of 438 white sharks Carcharodon carcharias and a contemporary effective population size (CNe) of 333 individuals along the South African coast. N was estimated by using a mark-recapture analysis of photographic identification records from a single aggregation site (Gansbaai). CNe was calculated based on the levels of pairwise linkage disequilibrium of genetic material collected from 4 aggregation sites across approximately 965 km of South African coastline. However, due to the complex stock structure of white sharks and the model assumptions made by Andreotti et al. (2016), the conclusions drawn cannot be supported by their methods and data.
KEY WORDS: White shark · Carcharodon carcharias · Abundance · Contemporary effective population size · Mark-recapture · POPAN · Linkage disequilibrium
Full text in pdf format | Cite this article as: Irion DT, Noble LR, Kock AA, Gennari E and others (2017) Pessimistic assessment of white shark population status in South Africa: Comment on Andreotti et al. (2016). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 577:251-255. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12283
Export citation Share: Facebook - - linkedIn |
Previous article Next article |