Whaler Sharks - seafdec.org.my

iii
Foreword
Slow growth, delayed maturity and low fecundity make chondrichthyans
particularly vulnerable to the many sources of mortality accompanying
humankind’s spreading influence on the planet. Habitat degradation, overfishing
and unsustainable fishing practices, including dynamiting, cyanide poisoning and
finning, all contribute to the pressures imposed on this unproductive group of
fishes. About a fifth of Indo-Australian chondrichthyans are considered threatened
and forty percent of conservation concern in the 2009 IUCN Red List, so it
is critical that regional faunas are well defined and guides are available to help
make accurate identifications of species. Taxonomy is providing an increasingly
important basis for managing species - the Borneo Broadfin Shark (Lamiopsis
tephrodes Fowler, 1905) was recently resurrected from what was previously
considered to be the monotypic genus Lamiopsis, as a result primarily of evidence
of substantial DNA sequence divergence between sister species. Accurate
taxonomy remains the product of painstaking effort from a committed group of
experts using all contemporary tools available.
Taxonomic studies of the fishes of Borneo started almost 200 years ago. In 1996,
an international project funded by the Darwin Foundation provided data on 36
chondrichthyan species from Sabah, and three years later a published checklist
from Borneo included 82 species. During a National Science Foundation (NSF)
study of the metazoan parasites of Borneo and their chondrichthyan hosts, this list
was expanded to include 118 chondrichthyan species and provided the impetus
for the international collaboration that has produced this book. This guide will aid
the conservation and management of this most vulnerable group of marine fishes
and provide much pleasure to people interested in the natural history of Borneo,
particularly its highly diverse shark and ray fauna.
Nic Bax
Leader, Marine Biodiversity and Conservation Management Research, CSIRO
Director, CERF Marine Biodiversity Hub.
Australia