The life and times of the freckled guitarfish
We don’t know much about the freckled guitarfish. In 2020, the IUCN assessed it as Vulnerable to extinction risk. But the information used for that estimate was based on other rhino rays. Alfonsina is filling in the gaps in what we know about the life history of the freckled guitarfish throughout the Gulf of Mexico. Spanning sampling sites in both the USA and Mexico, she is estimating age, growth and reproductive parameters. She’s also measuring the microchemical composition of vertebral cartilage to investigate possible nursery areas; all baseline life-history information that is needed to manage these rays effectively.
Alfonsina Romo Curiel
As a teenager, I grew up in the coastal fishing community of Bahía de Kino in Sonora, Mexico. At that time, my family’s livelihood depended on a fishing cooperative that oversaw catching, processing and selling diverse marine products such as octopus, brown swimming crabs, sea snails, fish, and ray and shark meat. Because of this, I became interested in learning about the sustainable use of fishery resources and decided to study marine sciences. As an undergraduate, I spent a summer volunteering at the Veracruz Aquarium, feeding tiger sharks and other big fish, as well as sea turtles and...
Juan Carlos Pérez Jiménez
A fisheries research scientist at the College of the Southern Border (EcoSur) in Campeche, Mexico, I am also a biologist at the University of Guadalajara and hold a Master’s and a PhD from the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada (CICESE), Mexico. During my 20-year career I have written 55 scientific papers and book chapters on several aspects of elasmobranch biology and ecology, as well as elasmobranch-related fisheries. I have been with the IUCN Shark Specialist Group since 2004 and am a member of the workshops advisory panel for the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Atlantic...
Freckled Guitarfish life history and nurseries in the Gulf of Mexico: Filling key data gaps
This project will fill major gaps in the knowledge of the life history of the freckled guitarfish throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The results will support an assessment of its population status and the implementation of conservation strategies.
The IUCN lists the freckled guitarfish as Vulnerable, albeit based on limited information. This project will conduct a unique binational sampling in the USA and Mexico to estimate the species’ age, growth and reproductive parameters and measure the microchemical composition of its vertebral cartilage to infer nursery areas. These data will inform its conservation status, creating a base for the implementation of specific conservation strategies.
The freckled guitarfish Pseudobatos lentiginosus is the only Rhinobatidae species that lives in the Gulf of Mexico and the western North Atlantic Ocean. No more than 78 centimetres (31 inches) long, it is a bottom-dweller in sandy, weedy or muddy shallow waters to a depth of approximately 30 metres (98 feet) and frequently lies buried in the sediments. Although this guitarfish is not a target species for artisanal or commercial fisheries in either country, it is frequently taken as bycatch in Mexico, but discarded due to its low market price. In 2020, the IUCN assessed it as being Vulnerable to the risk of extinction. However, this assessment was based on data from other rhinobatid species from the Pacific coast of the USA and Mexico. In 2023, the Rhinobatidae family was listed in Appendix II of CITES due to the high pressure of global fisheries. To conserve and use sustainably this and other marine resources, it is essential to evaluate their population status and implement appropriate management strategies. Only when these actions are taken is there a chance for a species to recover or to avoid reaching Critically Endangered status. Both require robust data to estimate species-specific life-history parameters for demographic models and to identify nursery areas to protect the vulnerable early life stages. However, the freckled guitarfish’s demographic and ecological parameters, such as age, growth, longevity, seasonality of the reproductive cycle, habitat use and nursery areas, are still unknown within its range.
- To compile data on the occurrence and catch rates of freckled guitarfish in artisanal and commercial fisheries as a first approach for estimating fisheries trends.
- To characterise the species’ age structure and estimate its growth rates and reproductive parameters.
- To identify, based on vertebral microchemistry, the lagoons, estuaries, bays and coastal zones of different regions of the Gulf of Mexico that may serve as nursery areas for this species.