Mustelus mustelus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Alkusairy, Hasan & Saad, Adib, 2018, Species Composition, Diversity and Length Frequency of By-Catch Sharks from the Syrian Coast, International Journal of Research Studies in Zoology 4 (1), pp. 11-21 : 15

Mustelus mustelus

TL ranged between 55 and 133 cm for males and between 50 and 141 cm for females. Common TL ranged from 73 to 88 cm for males and from 77 to 100 cm for females. This species was founded in all months of year. Females constituted 57.7% of species catches. Its caught appeared a significant difference between seasons (X 2 = 11.600, P = 0.009), peak of season landing was in winter ( Fig. 2d ), while a high percentage of juveniles was recorded in spring ( Fig. 3d ). According to [ 7] males and females of M. mustelus (Syrian coast) species matured at 101 cm and 105 cm TL, respectively. Thus, immature males and females contributed 90% and 83% of species catches ( Fig. 4d ).

Figures

Figure 2. Changes of caught specimens number per season; (a) H. griseus,(b); H. perlo, (c); C. plumbeus, (d); M. mustelus (e); G. melastomus, (f); S. blainvillei, (g); C. moluccensis, (h); C. granulosus

Figure 3. Size (TL) variations of abundant and common of by-catch sharks per season off Syria coast. Males (gray), females (white): (a); H. griseus,(b); H. perlo, (c); C. plumbeus, (d); M. mustelus (e); G. melastomus, (f); S. blainvillei, (g); C. granulosus, (h); C. uyato

Figure 4. Total length (TL) frequency distributions (percent of species catch) of the abundant and common bycatch sharks off Syrian coast. Males (black), females (white). Vertical lines indicate maturity size of males (sporadic) and females (continuous) following literature: (a); H. griseus,(b); H. perlo, (c); C. plumbeus, (d); M. mustelus (e); G. melastomus, (f); S. blainvillei, (g); C. granulosus, (h); C. uyato