DNA barcoding reveals overlooked shark and bony fish species in landing reports of small-scale fisheries from northern Peru

Abstract

Species-level identification of commercially landed fish provides pivotal information for stock assessment and fishery management. However, there is a common lack of species determination in landing records from small-scale fisheries (SSFs) worldwide. Using DNA barcoding analyses, we detected four overlooked bony fish (yellow snapper, union snook, blackspot wrasse, and steeplined drum) and one shark species (the sicklefin smooth-hound) in official landing records of SSFs from northern Peru. Of particular concern is the sicklefin smooth-hound shark Mustelus lunulatus that was found to be overlooked and could mistakenly be landed as the humpback smooth-hound M. whitneyi. Increased efforts should be made to improve species identification capacities in Peruvian fishing landings. There is an urgent need to quantify the catch levels of members of the genus Mustelus to species level. This would contribute to a better understanding of the levels of exploitation in each particular species and to improved management decisions.