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ISRA FACTSHEETS

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN PACIFIC REGION

ISRA FACTSHEETS

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN PACIFIC REGION

Ecuador-Peru Shelf Break ISRA

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Ecuador-Peru Shelf Break ISRA

Ecuador-Peru Shelf Break

Summary

Ecuador-Peru Shelf Break stretches from Atacames in northern Ecuador to Punta Balcones in northern Peru. The shelf break runs along the entire area, with the widest part of the shelf off Machala in Ecuador and its narrowest off Cabo Blanco in Peru. The area includes two Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas, 10 marine protected areas, two Key Biodiversity Areas, and two Wetland of International Importance (Ramsar sites). It contains unique oceanographic and bathymetric conditions resulting in high biodiversity and exceptionally high marine productivity. Within this area there are: threatened species (e.g., Whale Shark Rhincodon typus); feeding areas (Whale Shark); areas important for movement (Oceanic Manta Ray Mobula birostris), and undefined aggregations (Oceanic Manta Ray).

Ecuador-Peru Shelf Break

Ecuador-Peru Shelf Break

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Ecuador-Peru Shelf Break stretches from Atacames in northern Ecuador to Punta Balcones in northern Peru. It encompasses the Guayas, Santa Elena, Manabi, southern Esmeraldas regions of Ecuador and the Tumbes and Piura regions of Peru. Situated within the Pacific Central-American Coastal Large Marine Ecosystem, the area includes two Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas, the Carnegie Range-Equatorial Front and Gulf of Guayaquil (CBD 2020). Ten marine protected areas have been designated in the area (all located in Ecuador) including Machalilla National Park, Cantagallo – Machalilla, and Bajo Cope. Of these protected areas, two are designated as Wetlands of International Importance (i.e., the Ramsar sites of Isla Santa Clara and Machalilla) and two are Key Biodiversity Areas (Isla de la Plata and Isla Santa Clara).

Ecuador-Peru Shelf Break includes many important habitats. The underwater Carnegie Ridge, an aseismic ridge of volcanic origin, is located between the coasts of Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands at depths <2,500 m and includes at least five seamounts. The Equatorial Front is a transitional zone between two marine currents with high biological productivity. Isla de la Plata is a small island, ~25 km from mainland Ecuador, and is part of Machalilla National Park, located in the Equatorial Front. This island sits ~5 km from the east of the continental shelf, where the shelf depth drops sharply (~200 m).

The Gulf of Guayaquil is the largest estuary on the southeast Pacific coast with the largest area of mangroves in Ecuador (1,210 km2) (Stevenson 1981). It contains high biological productivity due to the oceanographic conditions associated with the development of the Equatorial Front, coastal outcrops, and interaction of various types of water masses (i.e., oceanic and fresh water transporting organic materials from the estuary’s interior). In the gulf, 23 hydrographic basins are discharged in which the Guayas River Basin constitutes the most important fluvial system of the entire western slope of the Andes. The dry season is from June to November and the rainy season from January to April, coinciding with greatest river discharge.

This Important Shark and Ray Area is delineated from the surface (0 m) to 1,928 m based on the global depth range of the Qualifying Species.

CRITERION A

VULNERABILITY

Two Qualifying Species considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM regularly occur in the area. These are the Endangered Whale Shark (Pierce & Norman 2016) and the Endangered Oceanic Manta Ray (Marshall et al. 2022).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C2 – FEEDING AREAS

Ecuador-Peru Shelf Break is an important feeding area for one shark species. Northern Peru has been identified as one of the 25 global feeding areas for Whale Shark (Araujo et al. 2022). Juvenile Whale Shark (2–10 m in total length) use this area seasonally (austral spring and summer) for feeding purposes.  Between 2014 and 2018, in Tumbes (northern coastal Peru), most of the 191 juvenile Whale Shark, predominately males, were recorded feeding (Maguiño et al. 2016, 2019). Furthermore, 185 interviews with fishers, on-board observers, captains, and diving companies provided information on 272 Whale Shark observations where most individuals were reportedly observed feeding (Maguiño et al. 2016). The probability of Whale Shark presence in northern Peru increases at high chlorophyll-a (4-6 mg/m3) and high sea surface temperature values (25–28°C). Whale Sharks appear to aggregate seasonally potentially exploiting rich foraging grounds when biological productivity is highest (Gonzalez-Pestana et al. 2020).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C4 – MOVEMENT

Ecuador-Peru Shelf Break is an important movement area for one ray species. There is evidence of connectivity between coastal Ecuador (Isla de La Plata, Bajo Copé) and northern Peruvian waters for Oceanic Manta Rays.

Between 2010–2015, 11 Oceanic Manta Rays were tagged with satellite tags at Isla de la Plata with results indicating that these animals undertake considerable journeys (hundreds or thousands of kilometres) in relatively short periods of time (Hearn et al. 2014; Guerrero & Hearn 2017). Most tagged animals travelled between coastal Ecuador and northern Peru, and none of them travelled in a northerly direction. Between 2017–2019, 46 Oceanic Manta Rays were tagged (16 individuals using satellite tags and 30 individuals using acoustic tags) in Isla de la Plata and Bajo Copé (Palomino et al. 2020). The trajectories show a constant displacement between the mainland coast of Ecuador and Peru, especially on the edge and within the continental shelf. In Ecuador, movement analysis showed that this species has a greater residency in Isla de La Plata (68.5%), the Cantagallo-Machalilla (15.1%), and the Bajo Copé (13.0%) (Palomino et al. 2020). Kernel density descriptive analysis showed that hotspots for this species are mainly around Isla de la Plata and Tumbes region (Palomino et al. 2020). Three tagged Oceanic Manta Rays also moved between coastal Ecuador and northern Peru (Peñaherrera-Palma et al. 2018). Furthermore, an additional satellite telemetry study in 2018 showed that three individuals tagged in northern Peru moved in the area between northern Peru and Ecuador (Andrzejaczek et al. 2021). These results are supported by a genetic diversity and population structure studies that show a low gene flow between mainland Ecuador and Galápagos Islands (Rojas Lopez et al. 2022) suggesting that Oceanic Manta Rays moved mainly along the mainland coast.

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C5 – UNDEFINED AGGREGATIONS

Ecuador-Peru Shelf Break is an important aggregation area for one ray species. Isla de la Plata and Bajo Copé hold the largest known global population of Oceanic Manta Rays. Using photo-identification data, 2,803 Oceanic Manta Rays were recorded between 2005–2018, with an estimated population of 22,316 individuals (Harty et al. 2022). Individuals from mostly mature, male-biased aggregation, use this area seasonally between June to October (Harty et al. 2022). This population is located seasonally between coastal Ecuador and Peru due to a low resighting rate at Isla de la Plata and Bajo Cope and satellite tracks of tagged Oceanic Manta Ray from Peru and Isla de la Plata that have shown that the home range appears to be considerably larger than the sampling area covered by their survey efforts (Hearn et al. 2014; Guerrero & Hearn 2017; Peñaherrera-Palma et al. 2018; Palomino et al. 2020; Andrzejaczek et al. 2021). In Tumbes (northern Peru), Oceanic Manta Ray are most common between June to September (Planeta Oceano unpubl. data 2022).

Oceanic Manta Rays might be occupying this seasonal area mainly for reproductive and feeding purposes. Between 2017–2019, around Isla de la Plata, male and female individuals have been reported with evidence of recent copulation (mating scars) along with potential pregnant females due to an extended abdomens (Guerrero & Hearn 2017; Palomino et al. 2020). In 2018, the first ultrasound was successfully conducted on an Oceanic Manta Ray in Isla de La Plata confirming pregnancy (Guerrero 2020). Off Tumbes, northern Peru, Oceanic Manta Rays, captured as bycatch, have been reported pregnant (Avila et al. 2014; Cabanillas-Torpoco et al. 2019; MINAM 2021). Stable isotope and fatty acid analyses showed that Oceanic Manta Rays around Isla de la Plata are not feeding predominantly on surface zooplankton; instead, the majority of dietary intake is mesopelagic in origin (Burgess et al. 2016, 2018). In northern Peru (Tumbes), coastal vertical movements of three tagged rays were motivated by a combined foraging and thermal recovery strategy in which the water column was highly stratified for sea temperature (Andrzejaczek et al. 2021); this suggests that Oceanic Manta Rays dive to forage on vertically migrating zooplankton at night and return to surface waters to rewarm between dives. Between 2008–2014, the three individuals tagged in coastal Ecuador showed vertical diving behavior at night (C. Peñaherrera unpubl. data 2022). Similar results were found for 11 Oceanic Manta Rays tagged in coastal Ecuador where they spent significantly more time at the surface during the day and more time at depth (50–200 m) during the night (Guerrero 2016). This suggests that Oceanic Manta Rays use the Ecuador-Peru Shelf Break area to feed in mid-water. In other parts of the world, this species uses deep waters to feed (Stewart et al. 2016).

Ecuador-Peru Shelf Break

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