Brown smooth-hound explained

The brown smooth-hound (Mustelus henlei) is a houndshark of the family Triakidae. The reproduction of this shark is viviparous.[1] The brown smooth-hound reaches a maximum reported size of 95.0 cm and a minimum of 27.6cm amongst males while females can range from 25.7 cm to 100 cm although males reach their asymptotic length sooner than females.[2] The average size of this species is between 50 and 70 cm and is between 19 and 21 cm at birth.[3] Females at maternity are around 67.6 cm long whereas the average length at maturity is 63.6 cm for males and 65.6 cm for females.[4] This species is a ground shark and has a heterocercal caudal fin bearing an elongate upper lobe, triangular and broad dorsal fins, broad pectoral fins, an inferior mouth, and large eyes, and displays a reddish or bronze coloration from above and a silverish coloration on the underside.[5] The shark is additionally slender, long-snouted, and sharp-toothed.[6] The teeth of the brown smooth-hound often bear a narrow primary cusp and one or two accessory cusplets.[7]

Distribution

It is found on the continental shelves of the subtropical eastern Pacific, from northern California to the Gulf of California, as well as Ecuador and Peru between latitudes 43° N and 18° S, from the surface to depths of 266 meters and is considered to be endemic to the nearshore shark assemblage in the northeastern Pacific.[8] The shark is generally found in enclosed, shallow, and muddy bays and has the largest distribution in its genus in the eastern Pacific.[9] Although the species is epibenthic, some individuals often foray into the pelagic zone when hunting for prey. The species also engages in seasonal migrations into deeper, coastal waters and although it spends most of its time in the bays, it departs during wintertime as waters cool,[10] [11] migrating out of estuarine waters between November and April specifically and returning in around May. The shark travels an average of 15.3 km per day as part of these migrations and has the ability to cover long distances through continuous swimming.[12] Gene flow and population connectivity investigations have revealed that there are three primary populations of the species, two of which, the Northern Californian population and the Costa Rican population, have genetically diverged greatly from the third, the population at Central-Southern California and Mexico.[13] More specifically, three of the subpopulations of the species are found in the Gulf of California and two are found off the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula.[14]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2022-01-07 . Mustelus henlei . 2024-11-14 . CABI Compendium.
  2. Yudin . Katherine G. . Cailliet . Gregor M. . 1990-03-06 . Age and Growth of the Gray Smoothhound, Mustelus californicus, and the Brown Smoothhound, M. henlei, Sharks from Central California . Copeia . 1990 . 1 . 191 . 10.2307/1445835 . 0045-8511.
  3. Rodríguez-Romero . Jesús . Álvarez-Bauman . Efrén . Ochoa-Díaz . María Ruth . López-Martínez . Juana . Maldonado-García . Minerva . 2013 . Feeding habits of Mustelus henlei on the western coast of Baja California Sur, México . Revista de biología marina y oceanografía . 48 . 2 . 261–271 . 10.4067/s0718-19572013000200006 . 0718-1957.
  4. Soto-López . Katherin . Ochoa-Báez . Rosa I . Tovar-Ávila . Javier . Galván-Magaña . Felipe . 2018-06-26 . Reproductive biology of the brown smooth-hound shark, Mustelus henlei (Chondrichthyes: Triakidae), off northwestern Mexico based on macroscopic and histological analyses . Ciencias Marinas . 44 . 2 . 10.7773/cm.v44i2.2805 . 2395-9053. free .
  5. Byrne . Rosemary J. . Avise . John C. . 2011-12-16 . Genetic mating system of the brown smoothhound shark (Mustelus henlei), including a literature review of multiple paternity in other elasmobranch species . Marine Biology . 159 . 4 . 749–756 . 10.1007/s00227-011-1851-z . 0025-3162.
  6. Web site: CA Marine Species Portal . 2024-11-14 . marinespecies.wildlife.ca.gov.
  7. Heemstra . Phillip C. . 1997-07-01 . A Review of the Smooth-Hound Sharks (Genus Mustelus, Family Triakidae) of the Western Atlantic Ocean, with Descriptions of Two New Species and a New Subspecies . Bulletin of Marine Science . 60 . 3 . 894–928.
  8. Chabot . Chris L. . 2011-06-21 . Characterization of 11 microsatellite loci for the brown smooth-hound shark, Mustelus henlei (Triakidae), discovered with next-generation sequencing . Conservation Genetics Resources . 4 . 1 . 23–25 . 10.1007/s12686-011-9464-x . 1877-7252.
  9. Mustelus henlei: Pérez-Jiménez, J., Carlisle, A.B., Chabot, C.L., Vásquez, V.E. & Ebert, D.A.: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T161648A80672263 . IUCN . 2014-12-03 . International Union for Conservation of Nature . 10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-2.rlts.t161648a80672263.en . en.
  10. Gayford . Joel H. . Godfrey . Hana . Whitehead . Darren A. . 2023-06-23 . Ontogenetic morphometry of the brown smoothhound sharkMustelus henleiwith implications for ecology and evolution . Journal of Morphology . 284 . 8 . 10.1002/jmor.21608 . 0362-2525.
  11. Campos . Brent R. . Fish . Maxfield A. . Jones . Gardner . Riley . Rebecca W. . Allen . Peter J. . Klimley . Peter A. . Cech . Joseph J. . Kelly . John T. . 2009-03-04 . Movements of brown smoothhounds, Mustelus henlei, in Tomales Bay, California . Environmental Biology of Fishes . 85 . 1 . 3–13 . 10.1007/s10641-009-9462-y . 0378-1909. free .
  12. Sandoval-Castillo . J . Beheregaray . LB . 2015-08-06 . Metapopulation structure informs conservation management in a heavily exploited coastal shark (Mustelus henlei) . Marine Ecology Progress Series . 533 . 191–203 . 10.3354/meps11395 . 0171-8630.
  13. Chabot . Chris L. . Espinoza . Mario . Mascareñas‐Osorio . Ismael . Rocha‐Olivares . Axayácatl . 2015-03-17 . The effect of biogeographic and phylogeographic barriers on gene flow in the brown smoothhound shark, Mustelus henlei, in the northeastern Pacific . Ecology and Evolution . 5 . 8 . 1585–1600 . 10.1002/ece3.1458 . 2045-7758. 10669/75286 . free .
  14. Pérez‐Jiménez . J. C. . Sosa‐Nishizaki . O. . 2008 . Reproductive biology of the brown smoothhound shark Mustelus henlei, in the northern Gulf of California, México . Journal of Fish Biology . 73 . 4 . 782–792 . 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2008.01939.x . 0022-1112.

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