true

ISRA FACTSHEETS

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN PACIFIC REGION

ISRA FACTSHEETS

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN PACIFIC REGION

Tribugá Gulf ISRA

7/65

Tribugá Gulf ISRA

Tribugá Gulf

Summary

Tribugá Gulf is located on the northern Colombian Pacific coast. It overlaps with the Golfo de Tribugá-Cabo Corrientes Marine Protected Area (MPA) and is located between the Utría MPA and the Ecanto de Manglares del Bajo Baudó MPA. The area is characterised by sandy beaches and rocky formations with patches of mangrove forest. The continental shelf is relatively narrow with a rapid decline to 200–300 m close to shore (~3 km). Within this area there are: threatened species (e.g., Largetooth Sawfish Pristis pristis); reproductive areas (e.g., Pacific Smalltail Shark Carcharhinus cerdale); feeding areas (Whale Shark Rhincodon typus); areas important for movement (Scalloped Hammerhead Sphyrna lewini); and the area sustains a high diversity of sharks (22 species).

Tribugá Gulf

Tribugá Gulf

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Tribugá Gulf is located on the northern Colombian Pacific coast in the Chocó Department. Situated within the Pacific Central-American Large Marine Ecosystem, the area overlaps with the Golfo de Tribugá-Cabo Corrientes Marine Protected Area (MPA) and is located between the Utría MPA and the Ecanto de Manglares del Bajo Baudó MPA. It is characterised by rocky coastlines with cliffs, mangrove forests, sedimentary coastlines (sandy, muddy, and rocky beaches), pelagic environments, as well as many inlets and estuaries (ANLA 2020). The benthos is mainly soft with the presence of some coral reefs. The sea surface temperature is relatively warm between 27–30°C with medium-low salinities due to terrestrial freshwater input. The continental shelf in this part of the Pacific coast is relatively narrow with a rapid decline to 200–300 m close to shore (~3 km) (INVEMAR 2009; ANLA 2020) and then dropping to 2,367 m offshore of the area.

This Important Shark and Ray Area is delineated from surface and inshore waters (0 m) to a depth of 300 m based on the depth range of Qualifying Species in the area.

CRITERION A

VULNERABILITY

Nineteen Qualifying Species considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM regularly occur in the area. Threatened sharks comprise four Critically Endangered species, three Endangered species, and four Vulnerable species; threatened rays comprise one Critically Endangered species, one Endangered species, and six Vulnerable species (IUCN 2022).

The Red Book of Marine Fishes of Colombia (Chasqui et al. 2017) does not provide assessments for all Qualifying Species occurring in the area, hence a lower number of species are considered threatened. However, eight Qualifying Species considered threatened with extinction according to the Red Book of Marine Fishes of Colombia regularly occur in the area. Threatened sharks comprise five Vulnerable species; threatened rays comprise one Critically Endangered species and two Vulnerable species.

Two of the Vulnerable sharks according to the Red Book of Marine Fishes of Colombia are globally Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Therefore, a total of 21 Qualifying Species considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List and/or the Red Book of Marine Fishes of Colombia regularly occur in the area.

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C1 – REPRODUCTIVE AREAS

Tribugá Gulf is an important reproductive area for nine shark and five ray species. Studies and monitoring carried out since 2008 show that the following species undertake reproductive activities in the area: Pacific Eagle Ray, Pacific Smalltail Shark, Blacktip Shark, Bull Shark, Mazatlán Butterfly Ray, Longtail Stingray, Brown Smoothhound, Sicklefin Smoothhound, Cortez Numbfish, Whitesnout Guitarfish, Pacific Sharpnose Shark, Scalloped Bonnethead, Scalloped Hammerhead, and Bonnethead Shark. Evidence of this originates from monitoring and research documenting gravid females or neonates of each of these species in the area (Navia et al. 2009, 2012, 2013, 2020; Villate et al. 2022; Fundación Malpelo unpubl. data 2022; Squalus Fundación unpubl. data 2022). For example, Brown Smoothhound presented proportions of mature individuals above 50% throughout the year, with neonates and gravid females with near-term embryos recorded in the second half of the year with an average fecundity of five offspring per uterus (Navia et al. 2020). For Longtail Stingray, neonates and gravid females with near-term embryos were concentrated between January and June (Navia et al. 2020).

Different stages of juvenile Scalloped Hammerheads (from neonates) can be found in the area (Villate et al. 2022). Neonates (<70 cm total length) aggregate in the northern zone, mainly in July and August (Bessudo et al. 2018; Fundación Malpelo unpubl. data 2022). Gravid female Scalloped Hammerheads arrive from oceanic environments to give birth in the coastal waters of Colombia including Tribugá Gulf (Quintanilla et al. 2015).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C2 – FEEDING AREAS

Tribugá Gulf is an important feeding area for one shark species. Juvenile Whale Shark have been observed aggregating to feed in the area between February and May every year (Melany Villate pers. obs. 2022; Fundación MarAdentro unpubl. data 2022). Whale Sharks were observed to feed on sardines and other small fishes and are usually associated with aggregations of small-sized tuna. Fishers in the area have also observed feeding aggregations of up to 10 Whale Sharks (Fundación MarAdentro unpubl. data 2022).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C4 – MOVEMENT

Tribugá Gulf is an important area for the movement of one shark species. Scalloped Hammerheads were acoustically tagged and documented moving throughout Tribugá Gulf (Bessudo et al. 2018). Furthermore, results from a genetic analysis of Scalloped Hammerheads from Colombian waters indicate that oceanic adult Scalloped Hammerheads from Malpelo Island show genetic connectivity (i.e., parenthood) with juveniles found in continental shallow waters, including Tribugá Gulf (Quintanilla et al. 2015).

CRITERION D

SUB-CRITERION D2 – DIVERSITY

Tribugá Gulf sustains a high diversity of Qualifying Species (22 species). This exceeds the regional diversity threshold (17 species) for the Central and South Pacific American region.

The regular presence of these Qualifying Species has been documented through scientific studies and monitoring of fisheries and is supported through the literature and unpublished data sources including Tobón et al. (2008); Navia et al. (2009, 2012, 2013, 2020); Bessudo et al. (2018); Mejía-Falla & Navia (2019); Ágreda et al. (2022); Duarte et al. (2022); Villate et al. (2022); Fundación MarAdentro unpubl. data (2022); Fundación Malpelo unpubl. data (2022); Marviva Foundation unpubl. data (2022); Squalus Fundación unpubl. data (2022); Melany Villate pers. obs. (2022). For the highly threatened Largetooth Sawfish, the most recent record from the area was photographed in 2021 (Squalus Fundación unpubl. data 2022).

Tribugá Gulf

SUBMIT A REQUEST

ISRA SPATIAL LAYER REQUEST

To make a request to download the ISRA Layer in either a GIS compatible Shapefile (.shp) or Google Earth compatible Keyhole Markup Language Zipped file (.kmz) please complete the following form. We will review your request and send the download details to you. We will endeavor to send you the requested files as soon as we can. However, please note that this is not an automated process, and before requests are responded to, they undergo internal review and authorization. As such, requests normally take 5–10 working days to process.

Should you have questions about the data or process, please do not hesitate to contact us.

    * indicates required

    Industry or sector (*)

    Under the terms and conditions of our User License Agreement , full and appropriate acknowledgement is required in any materials and publications derived from the data (and copies should be sent to the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group through the contact form). For any publications making substantial use of the data, the ISRA welcomes the opportunity for co-authorship, collaboration, and to comment prior to publication.


    Furthermore, we need to know whether you are a commercial or non-commercial user. Non-commercial includes scientific research, education or conservation. Commercial is defined as follows: any use by, on behalf of, or to inform or assist the activities of a commercial entity (that operates ‘for profit’) or use by a non-profit for the purposes of revenue generation

    Type of use(*):

    Please specify which layer (ex. all layers, layers within a specific Region, layers within a Jurisdiction or a single ISRA): Purpose (*):

    Please provide a description of how you intend to use the ISRA GIS Dataset. The more details you provide, the faster we can respond to your request. We may require further clarification prior to providing access. (min. 100 characters – max 1,000 characters)



    File format request (*)

    By providing your personal data, you consent to its processing as described below. The IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group will use the information you provide on this form to send the documents you requested. You can change your mind at any time by writing to the ISRA Data Coordinator www.sharkrayareas.org/contact. All personal details provided will be treated with respect. For any information you can visit our Privacy Policy.
    Please read the User License Agreement and ISRA Layer Metadata Description

    This form uses Google reCaptcha to reduce spam. Privacy - Terms