Welsh waters playing host to elusive and endangered angelshark
THE mysterious angelshark is thriving in Wales, research by the Zoological Society of London has suggested, making it one of the last global “hotspots”.
The rare creature comes from a family of sharks that is evolutionarily distinct, meaning that it represents its own branch of the evolutionary tree and has few or no close relatives in the animal kingdom.
Until recently, evidence for the sharks was haphazard, and occasional sightings were reported on social media or to Natural Resources Wales.
But the first phase of the Angel Shark Project, part-funded by the Welsh government, and run by ZSL, the charity behind London Zoo, has had 30 sightings reported in the last five years by fishermen trained to release the rare animal if they catch it by accident. It has been strictly protected in UK waters since 2008.
Angelsharks ( Squatina squatina) are large, flat-bodied sharks that can reach 2.4m in length. They belong to the angel shark family, which is the world’s second most threatened family of elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays).
Scientists have now launched a cutting-edge DNA project to find out more about the shark’s life off the west coast.
Researchers are taking water samples from Tremadog Bay, North Wales, every month for the next year to search for traces of the creature, once common throughout the North Atlantic but now critically endangered.
Dr Joanna Barker, the project lead, said the team was trying to establish whether the sharks lived in the area all year round or just during the summer, when most si ghtings have been reported. Scientists hope to identify the areas where they are living in order to better protect them.
The Canary Islands is the last major stronghold for the animal, but Wales is one of a handful of other places where they are still thought to be living.
Three species of angel shark were once widespread in the North Atlantic but fishing and the loss of habitat have left them under threat.
“When we’re talking about the North Atlantic, Wales really is quite unique because we haven’t seen records for many of the other countries that surround north-west Europe,” said Dr Barker. “In the broader context, the
Canary Islands is this huge hotspot and then a few separated pockets elsewhere in their range, of which Wales is one,” she added.
The hi-tech environmental DNA method involves filtering water samples and searching the residue for molecular traces of the sharks.
Typically used to search for invasive species, it is now increasingly being used to confirm the presence of endangered animals.
Angelsharks are thought to be particularly suited to the method because of their hunting practices, which involve burrowing into the sand to ambush unsuspecting prey.
This leaves behind traces from their mucus, skin, teeth and faeces.
The shark can be hard to spot in murky waters and is often mistaken for other species of fish or ray, so the team hopes that this method of detection will provide more evidence of its presence.
Dr Nisha Owen, the director of conservation at the charity On the EDGE Conservation, which is part-funding the project, said: “Angel sharks are the second most threatened family of shark or ray in the entire world.
“Very little is known about them, because they’re so cryptic.”
The UK has been a world leader in the protection for angel sharks, banning any disturbance of them in 2008, a year before the rest of the EU.
There is also a theory that Wales may be serving as a breeding ground for the sharks because of a series of sightings of juveniles. Records provided to the project date back to 1812 and include more than 2,000 sightings.