Original scientific article	UDC 597.31:591.9(262-191.2)
Received: 2007-06-11
FIRST RECORD OF CARCHARHINUS BRACHYURUS (GUNTHER, 1870) (CHONDRICHTHYES; CARCHARHINIDAE) FROM SARDINIAN WATERS
(CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN)
Tiziano STORAI & Luca ZINZULA
DNAquA - Laboratorio di ricerche e studi sulla vita marina, 1-09100 Cagliari (CA), Via San Carlo Borromeo 1, Italy
E-mail: tizianostorai@dnaqua.it
Benedetto CRISTO Istituto di Scienze Naturali e Biologia Marina, I-07026 Olbia (OT), Via Vulcano 44, Italy
Brett HUMAN
Marine Science and Fisheries Centre, PC 100 Muscat, P.O. Box 467, Sultanate of Oman
ABSTRACT
The authors report on the first record of Carcharhinus brachyurus (Gunther, 1870) (Chondrichthyes; Carcharhini-dae) from Sardinian waters registered in the Sardinian Large Elasmobranch Database (S.L.E.D.). A female car-charhinid shark, measuring 253 cm total length, was caught in June 2005 in a tuna net off San Pietro Island (southwestern Sardinia, Italy, Mediterranean Sea), and was later identified as C. brachyurus from photographs based on its dentition and some morphological features.
Key words: Carcharhinus brachyurus, distribution, Sardinian Large Elasmobranch Database (S.L.E.D.),
Mediterranean Sea
PRIMA SEGNALAZIONE DI CARCHARHINUS BRACHYURUS (GUNTHER, 1870) (CHONDRICHTHYES; CARCHARHINIDAE) PER LE ACQUE DELLA SARDEGNA
(MEDITERRANEO CENTRALE)
SINTESI
Viene presentata la prima segnalazione di Carcharhinus brachyurus (Gunther, 187O) (Chondrichthyes; Car-charhinidae) per le acque della Sardegna, registrata nel Sardinian Large Elasmobranch Database (S.L.E.D.). La segnalazione e relativa ad un esemplare femmina di carcarinide di cm. 2S3 di lunghezza totale, catturato nel giugno del 2OOS nelle reti della tonnara dell'Isola di San Pietro (Sardegna sud-occidentale, Italia, mediterraneo) e identificato successivamente come C. brachyurus sulla base di fotografíe evidenzianti la dentatura ed alcuni parametri morfo-metrici.
Parole chiave: Carcharhinus brachyurus, distribuzione, Sardinian Large Elasmobranch Database (S.L.E.D.),
Mediterraneo
INTRODUCTION
The Copper Shark or Bronze Whaler, Carcharhinus brachyurus (Gunther, 1870), is both an epipelagic and insular shark species, occurring predominately in warm temperate and subtropical waters of all oceans (Garrick, 1982; Compagno, 1984b; Compagno et al., 2005), including the Mediterranean Sea (Serena, 2005). The presence of this species in the Mediterranean basin was confirmed in 1981 (Cigala Fulgosi, 1983), while its presence in the Mediterranean had been suspected since the 19th century (Garrick, 1982; Orsi Relini, 1998).
Recently, the distribution of C. brachyurus in the Mediterranean basin has been defined with more precision, thanks to records in the scientific literature. Besides the historical records concerning some specimens coming from the northwestern Mediterranean Sea (Nice, France), and one from the northern Adriatic Sea (Garrick, 1982), there are more recent records from Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands (Morey & Massuti, 2003), the Ligurian Sea (Vacchi et al., 1996), the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Zava et al., 2006), the Sicilian Channel (Cigala Fulgosi, 1983), the Algerian coast (Hemida et al., 2002), and from the Dodecanese Islands (Fergusson, 1994).
This note is the thirty-seventh record of C. brachyurus from the Mediterranean Sea (Zava et al., 2006), but the very first from Sardinian waters recorded in the Sardinian Large Elasmobranch Database (S.L.E.D.), furthering our knowledge on the distribution of this species in the Mediterranean Sea. The prime objective of this project, which is carried out by the "DNAquA - Laboratorio di ricerche e studi sulla vita marina" and other independent researchers is to collect historical and recent data on elasmobranch species occurring in Sardinian waters.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In the afternoon of June19th, 2005, a female Carcharhinus brachyurus (Fig. 1) was found trapped in a commercial tuna net in the "Tacche Bianche" locality in the channel between San Pietro Island and Sardinia, less than 500m from the northern coast of San Pietro Island (approx. 39o14'N, 8o31'E). The shark had probably been entangled for some days before being retrieved, as it already began to decompose.
The shark was initially identified by local fishermen as a "grigione" (big grey), a generic name usually adopted for carcharhinid sharks, particularly Carcharhinus plumbeus (Nardo, 1827), the most common carcharhinid in Sardinian waters (Storai et al., 2006).
The identification of this specimen as C. brachyurus is based on several morphological features, observed from the photographs taken of the shark. These features match the diagnostic keys (Garrick, 1982; Compagno,
1984b), which allow definitely discriminate among the most two similar carcharhinid species Carcharhinus ob-scurus and C. plumbeus (Tab. 1). The specimen was recorded in the S.L.E.D. with the record code #2005 CB046.4. Conventionally, S.L.E.D. records are identified by a code of eleven alphanumeric characters, including: year of the signalling, first letter of the genus name and species name of the specimen, progressive number of the record, and a separate number (from 1 to 4) referring to one of the four areas into which Sardinian waters have been divided (Storai et al., 2006). All records have been inserted in a multiple keywords database that will be available on the web site http: //www.dnaqua.it through restricted access granted by the webmaster. The stored data, periodically updated, will be thus available for both scientific and popular publications.
Fig. 1: Adult female Carcharhinus brachyurus, 253 cm TOT, caught in tuna net off San Pietro Island (southwestern Sardinia, Italy, Mediterranean Sea) on June 19th, 2005 (S.L.E.D. record #2005CB046.4). Sl. 1: Odrasla samica vrste Carcharhinus brachyurus, 253 cm TOT, ujeta v mrežo za lovljenje tunov 19. junija 2005 v bližini otoka San Pietro (jugozahodna Sardinija, Sredozemsko morje) (S.L.E.D. #2005CB 046.4).
Tab. 1: Matches of the specimen #2005CB046.4 with the main discrimination diagnostic features among C.
brachyurus, C. obscurus and C. plumbeus (Compagno, 1984b).
Tab. 1: Primerjave primerka #2005CB046.4 z glavnimi diagnostičnimi značilnostmi vrst C. brachyurus, C. obscurus in C. plumbeus (Compagno, 1984b).
	#2005CB046.4	C. brachyurus	C. obscurus	C. plumbeus
upper dentition	narrow, mesial edge curved, distinct notch on distal edge	narrow, bent-cusped, serrated without cusp-slets; crown feet with slightly coarser serrations but no cuspslets	erect, broad, triangular semioblique cusped, serrated without cuspslets; low erect to slightly oblique cups that smoothly merge into the crown feet	semierect, broad, triangular high cusped, serrated without cuspslets; semi-erect to slightly oblique cups that smoothly merge into the crown feet
snout shape	rounded, narrowly pointed	moderately long, rounded or narrowly pointed	short or moderately long, broadly rounded	short, broadly rounded or parabolic
interdorsal ridje	no interdorsal ridge relievable	no interdorsal ridge	low interdorsal ridge	narrow interdorsal ridge
first dorsal fin	small, falcate; origin slightly anterior to pectoral rear tip	small, falcate with short rear tip, no conspicuous markings; pointed or narrowly rounded apex; origin over or slightly anterior to pectoral rear tip	moderate-sized, semifal-cate with short rear tip, no conspicuous markings; pointed or narrowly rounded apex; origin over or slightly anterior to pectoral rear tip	very large, semifalcate, no conspicuous markings; pointed or narrowly rounded apex; origin over or slightly anterior to pectoral fin insertion
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The specimen was 253 cm of total length and weighed more than 200 kg, and was distinguished from the two most similar carcharhinid species in the area, namely Carcharhinus obscurus (Lesueur, 1818) and Car-charhinus plumbeus. The upper dentition in our specimen is relatively narrow (Fig. 2), and not as broad as in C. obscurus or C. plumbeus. The mesial edges of the upper teeth in our specimen are pronouncedly curved, whereas the mesial edges of the upper teeth in both C. obscurus and C. plumbeus are straight, or nearly so, and a distinct notch is observed on the distal edges of the teeth in our specimen, whereas this notch is indistinct, or absent, in the distal edges of the upper teeth of C. ob-scurus and C. plumbeus.
The shape of the snout in our specimen is long and narrowly pointed (Fig. 3), as in Carcharhinus brachyu-rus, whereas the snouts of C. obscurus and C. plumbeus are shorter and more broadly rounded. The shape and size of the first dorsal fins of C. brachyurus and C. obscurus are similar; however, C. plumbeus has a characteristically high, triangular first dorsal fin, which is not the case in our specimen (Fig. 4). The shark specimen that we are reporting on has dentition, snout, and fin morphology that matches that of C. brachyurus. The dentition and shape of the snout of our specimen does
not conform to the descriptions of C. obscurus or C. plumbeus, and the first dorsal fin shape of our specimen is different to the one observed in C. plumbeus (Bass et al, 1973; Garrick, 1982; Compagno, 1984b, 1988).

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Fig. 2: Detail of the upper jaw teeth of the specimen identified as C. brachyurus.
Sl. 2: Detajl zob v zgornji čeljusti primerka, identificiranega kot C. brachyurus.
Fig. 3: Detail of the head of the specimen identified as C. brachyurus, showing its mouth and snout. Sl. 3: Detajl glave (čeljusti in gobca) primerka, identificiranega kot C. brachyurus.
The following morphometric measurements (Tab.2) were collected as per Compagno (1984a) by the fishermen catching the shark: 253 cm Total Length (TOT), 182 cm (71.9% TOT) Precaudal Length (PRC), 131 cm (51.8% TOT) Snout-Vent Length (SVL), 33 cm (13.0% TOT) Preorbital Length (POB), and 29 cm (11.5% TOT) First Dorsal Height (D1 H). Due to the logistic difficulties, it was not possible to make observations on the stomach contents, nor the reproductive tract, and no biopsy samples were taken.
Tab. 2: Synthesis of the available measurements of the specimen #2005CB046.4 caught off San Pietro Island (southwestern Sardinia, Italy, Mediterranean Sea) in June 2005.
Legend: TOT - total length; PRC - precaudal length; SVL - snout-vent length; POB - preorbital length; D1H - first dorsal height.
Tab. 2: Sinteza razpoložljivih dimenzij primerka #2005CB046.4, ujetega junija 2005 v bližini otoka San Pietro (jugozahodna Sardinija, Italija, Sredozemsko morje).
Legenda: TOT - celotna iztegnjena dolžina; PRC - pre-drepna dolžina; SVL - dolžina od konice gobca do trebušne plavuti; POB - dolžina od konice gobca do oči; DIH - višina prve hrbtne plavuti.
	TOT	PRC	SVL	POB	D1H
cm	253	182	131	33	29
% TOT	100	71.9	51.0	13.0	11.5
Fig. 4: Detail of the first dorsal fin of the specimen identified as C. brachyurus.
Sl. 4: Detajl prve hrbtne plavuti primerka, identificiranega kot C. brachyurus.
According to the literature available for C. brachyurus (Garrick, 1982; Vacchi et al., 1996; Morey & Mas-suti, 2003; Zava et al., 2006), the specimen was probably sexually mature, as sexual maturity for this species is usually reached at approximately 200-220 cm TOT (Compagno et al., 2005; Serena 2005), although a recent record from the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Zava et al., 2006) reports on a mature male specimen at only 164 cm TOT.
This record of C. brachyurus from Sardinia confirms a geographical continuum in the distribution of C. brachyurus throughout the western Mediterranean Sea. C. brachyurus ranges from the Balearic Islands to the Algerian coast in the Mediterranean Sea. In our opinion, a reproductively viable population of C. brachyurus exists in the Mediterranean Sea.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank Simone Repetto and Giu-liano Greco (Carloforte, San Pietro Island) for their greatly valued cooperation.
PRVI PODATEK O POJAVLJANJU VRSTE CARCHARHINUS BRACHYURUS (GUNTHER, 1870) (CHONDRICHTHYES; CARCHARHINIDAE) V VODAH SARDINIJE
(SREDNJE SREDOZEMLJE)
Tiziano STORAI & Luca ZINZULA DNAquA - Laboratorio di ricerche e studi sulla vita marina, 1-09100 Cagliari (CA), Via San Carlo Borromeo 1, Italy
E-mail: tizianostorai@dnaqua.it
Benedetto CRISTO Istituto di Scienze Naturali e Biologia Marina, I-07026 Olbia (OT), Via Vulcano 44, Italy
Brett HUMAN
Marine Science and Fisheries Centre, PC 100 Muscat, P.O. Box 467, Sultanate of Oman
POVZETEK
Avtorji pričujočega članka poročajo o prvem pojavljanju vrste Carcharhinus brachyurus (Gunther, 1870) (Chon-drichthyes; Carcharhinidae) v vodah Sardinije, in sicer na osnovi zapisa v Sardinski bazi podatkov za velike morske pse in skate (S.L.E.D.). junija 2005 se je v mrežo za lovljenje tunov, postavljeno v bližini otoka San Pietro (jugozahodna Sardinija, Sredozemsko morje), ujela samica pravega morskega psa, ki je bila na osnovi fotografij njenega zobovja in nekaterih morfoloških značilnosti pozneje identificirana kot C. brachyurus.
Ključne besede: Carcharhinus brachyurus, razširjenost, Sardinska baza podatkov za velike morske pse in skate
(S.L.E.D.), Sredozemsko morje
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