Female wound records suggest mating periods for the Caribbean reef shark at an insular marine protected area from the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

Despite being one of the most abundant, economically-significant, reef-associated shark species, little is known about the reproductive aspects of the Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi). In the present study we report the first evidence of mating wounds and scars in female Caribbean reef sharks at the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, a remote Marine Protected Area from the South Atlantic Ocean. Data from five females suggest this species mates mainly during the austral summer, between February and March. Given that the archipelago has been previously described as a nursery ground for the Caribbean reef shark, these results add information about the reproductive cycle of this species in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean.