ISRA FACTSHEETS
ISRA FACTSHEETS
ASIA REGION
San Teodoro Batangas
Summary
San Teodoro Batangas is located in the Verde Island Passage in the central Philippines. The area is a strait that separates the islands of Luzon and Mindoro. The area is very shallow and is characterised by mangrove forests, sandy beaches, seagrass beds, and coral reefs. It sits within the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area. Within this area there are: threatened species and reproductive areas (Blacktip Reef Shark Carcharhinus melanopterus).
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San Teodoro Batangas
DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT
San Teodoro Batangas is located in the Verde Island Passage in the central Philippines. The area is situated in a strait that separates the islands of Luzon and Mindoro, connecting the South China Sea with Tayabas Bay and the Sibuyan Sea beyond. The area is very shallow and is characterised by mangrove forests, sandy beaches, seagrass beds, and coral reefs. The Verde Island Passage reportedly has the highest concentration of marine shorefishes per unit area in the Indo–Malay–Philippines archipelago (Carpenter & Springer 2005).
This area sits within the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area (CBD 2024).
This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthopelagic and is delineated from inshore and surface waters (0 m) to 25 m based on the bathymetry of the area.
CRITERION A
VULNERABILITY
One Qualifying Species within the area is considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Blacktip Reef Shark is assessed as Vulnerable (Simpfendorfer et al. 2020).
CRITERION C
SUB-CRITERION C1 – REPRODUCTIVE AREAS
San Teodoro Batangas is an important reproductive area for one shark species.
Young-of-the-year Blacktip Reef Sharks are regularly and predictably observed each year within the area (A Varona pers. obs. 2023). Individuals, visually estimated to be ~60 cm total length (TL), in groups of 12–20 individuals have been seen daily during the boreal winter season between November and February since 2015 (A Varona pers. obs. 2024). Size-at-birth of the species is 30–52 cm TL (Ebert et al. 2021).
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