Mediterranean Islands as Refugia for Elasmobranch and Threatened Fishes

Franck Pichot, David Mouillot, Jean-Baptiste Juhel, Alicia Dalongeville, Olivier Adam, Véronique Arnal, Thomas Bockel, Emilie Boulanger, Pierre Boissery, Madeleine Cancemi, Eric Charbonnel, Jean-Michel Culioli, Tony Dejean, Nacim Guellati, Virginie Hartmann, Florian Holon, Philippe Lenfant, Sandra Mallol, Virginie Marques, Laetitia Mathon, Jean-Jacques Riutort, Marie-Catherine Santoni, Nicolas Tomasi, Alice Valentini, Laure Velez, Stéphanie Manel, Julie Deter, 2024. Mediterranean Islands as Refugia for Elasmobranch and Threatened Fishes. Diversity and Distributions, 2024; 0:e13937. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13937

Abstract: The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most anthropized seas in the world but also a marine biodiversity hotspot with many fish species under threat. The main goal of the study is to test whether on the heavily fished and anthropized Mediterranean coast, the less impacted Corsica and Balearic Islands, can be considered as refugia for threatened and elasmobranch fishes independently of protection by marine reserves.

Keywords: biodiversity, conservation, corsica, elasmobranchs, environmental DNA, human pressure, IUCN, reserves