A Systematic Survey of the Metazoan Parasites of the Elasmobranchs from the Sea of Cortez

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This project will survey the metazoan parasitesand their elasmobranch hosts from the Sea of Cortez, Mexico. The fishes (and putatively, the parasites) are highly endemic and are threatened by severe overharvesting by commercial fishing. Aside from collecting whole specimens, the survey will sample tissues of hosts and parasites for future molecular analysis. Collections will be deposited in Mexico's Guaymas Marine Station; other in-country collaborators include scientists and students at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, the Mexican government, and native Mexican fisherman. Aside from documenting the composition and geographic distribution of the elasmobranch fishes and their metazoan parasites, the survey will contribute to the conservation and sustainable commercial use of these fishes in the Sea of Cortez. %%% This four-year biodiversity project will survey, for the first time, the elasmobranch fishes (sharks, skates and rays) inhabiting the Sea of Cortez, along with their internal metazoan parasites. Because of their relative isolation, many of the elasmobranch fishes and their parasites in the Sea of Cortez will be new to science. However, knowledge of both the fishes and the parasites is threatened because the elasmobranch fishes are in danger of being wiped out by overharvesting. The survey will also sample tissues of hosts and parasites for future molecular analysis. Aside from documenting the composition and geographic distribution of the elasmobranch fishes and their metazoan parasites, the survey will contribute to the conservation and sustainable commercial use of these fishes in the Sea of Cortez.