The importance of key aggregation sites for juvenile Manta Rays (Mobula alfredi and Mobula birostris), and the impacts of anthropogenic threats

幼年蝠鲼（Mobula alfredi 和 Mobula birostris）关键聚集地的重要性以及人为威胁的影响

• 批准号: 2877836
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2877836
• 关键词: importance; key; aggregation; sites; juvenile

Manta rays (Mobula alfredi and Mobula birostris) are slow-growing cartilaginous fishes, and their late maturity and low fecundity leave them highly vulnerable to overexploitation. A number of anthropogenic threats impact manta rays globally, including susceptibility to by-catch and targeted fisheries, which are partly driven by the Asian medicinal demand for mobulid gill plates. In the Maldives Archipelago manta rays are nationally protected from fisheries and are abundantly healthy in numbers. In Sri Lanka however, just north of the Maldives, we find the world's largest mobulid fishery, where it has been found that no more adults of these species exist in these waters with only juveniles being caught, which if un-changed will lead to local extinction within the area. This project aims to expand research on the juvenile life stage of manta rays, by identifying critical habitats used by young of year individuals such as pupping and nursery areas, which remain relatively understudied around the world. This project has the long-term goal of planning and designing policies for marine protected areas and other conservation initiatives to protect these species from further reduction.

曼塔鳐（Mobula alfredi和Mobula birostris）是生长缓慢的软骨鱼类，成熟晚和繁殖力低使它们极易受到过度开发。全球范围内有一些人为威胁影响着曼塔，包括易受副渔获物和目标渔业的影响，这在一定程度上是由于亚洲对蝠鲼鳃板的药用需求。在马尔代夫群岛，曼塔受到国家保护，不受渔业捕捞，数量非常健康。然而，在斯里兰卡，就在马尔代夫北部，我们发现了世界上最大的莫布里德渔业，在那里，人们发现这些物种的成年人不再存在于这些沃茨，只有青少年被捕获，如果不改变，将导致该地区的局部灭绝。该项目旨在扩大对曼塔幼年生命阶段的研究，方法是确定幼年个体使用的关键栖息地，如幼崽和托儿所，这些栖息地在世界各地仍然相对不足。该项目的长期目标是规划和设计海洋保护区政策和其他保护举措，以保护这些物种不再进一步减少。