Galeus melastomus, Rafinesque, 1810

Alkusairy, Hasan & Saad, Adib, 2018, Species Composition, Diversity and Length Frequency of By-Catch Sharks from the Syrian Coast, International Journal of Research Studies in Zoology 4 (1), pp. 11-21 : 15

Galeus melastomus

TL ranged between 27 and 63 cm for males and between 32 and 70 cm for females. Common TL ranged from 41 to 50 cm for males and from 44 to 55 cm for females. G. meastomus was recorded in all months of year. Percentage of females catches was 53.9%. Its caught appeared no significant difference between seasons (X 2 = 10.800, P = 0.013), peak season of landing was in autumn ( Fig. 2e ), while a peak season of juveniles landing was in winter ( Fig. 3e ). [ 19] noted that males and females of G. melastomus matured at 38 and 43 cm TL, respectively. Based on this information, immature males and females constituted about 10 % and 21%, respectively. ( Fig. 4e ).

Figures

Figure 2. Changes of caught specimens number per season; (a) H. griseus,(b); H. perlo, (c); C. plumbeus, (d); M. mustelus (e); G. melastomus, (f); S. blainvillei, (g); C. moluccensis, (h); C. granulosus

Figure 3. Size (TL) variations of abundant and common of by-catch sharks per season off Syria coast. Males (gray), females (white): (a); H. griseus,(b); H. perlo, (c); C. plumbeus, (d); M. mustelus (e); G. melastomus, (f); S. blainvillei, (g); C. granulosus, (h); C. uyato

Figure 4. Total length (TL) frequency distributions (percent of species catch) of the abundant and common bycatch sharks off Syrian coast. Males (black), females (white). Vertical lines indicate maturity size of males (sporadic) and females (continuous) following literature: (a); H. griseus,(b); H. perlo, (c); C. plumbeus, (d); M. mustelus (e); G. melastomus, (f); S. blainvillei, (g); C. granulosus, (h); C. uyato