true

ISRA FACTSHEETS

SOUTH AMERICAN ATLANTIC REGION

ISRA FACTSHEETS

SOUTH AMERICAN ATLANTIC REGION

Santa Marta Cape ISRA

25/81

Santa Marta Cape ISRA

Santa Marta Cape

Summary

Santa Marta Cape is located in the Santa Catarina state of southern Brazil. This area is characterised by large expanses of fine sand and a gently sloping inner shelf which increases as it approaches the cape with incidence of moderate to high wave energy. Within this area there are: threatened species (e.g., Smallnose Fanskate Sympterygia bonapartii) and range-restricted species (e.g., Eyespot Skate Atlantoraja cyclophora).

Santa Marta Cape

Santa Marta Cape

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Santa Marta Cape is located in Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil. This area is characterised by a large expanse of fine sand, and a gently sloping inner shelf which increases as it approaches the cape with an incidence of moderate to high wave energy (De Oliveira et al. 2016). The most energetic swells are from the south and southeast quadrants generating strong currents towards the northeast and occurring mainly during the austral autumn and winter. In the spring and summer, waves from the east and northeast quadrants prevail but do not produce a significant current due to the perpendicular wave approach to the coast (De Oliveira et al. 2016).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthic and subsurface and is delineated from 20 to 60 m based on the bathymetry of the area.

CRITERION A

VULNERABILITY

Two Qualifying Species considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species regularly occur in the area. These are the Critically Endangered Bignose Fanskate (Pollom et al. 2020b) and the Endangered Eyespot Skate (Pollom et al. 2020a).

CRITERION B

RANGE RESTRICTED

This area holds the regular presence of the Eyespot Skate, Bignose Fanskate, and Smallnose Fanskate as resident range-restricted species. All species occur in the Patagonian Shelf and the South Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems.

Between 2022–2023, these species were regularly recorded by onboard observers on vessels from the commercial coastal pair trawl fleet operating along ~950 km of coastline including Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul states (Monteiro DS, Cardoso LG, Fischer LG unpubl. data 2025). Of 324 sets monitored, 14 were within this area (33–55 m depth), in 2022 (June = 10) and 2023 (May = 3; November = 1) (DS Monteiro, LG Cardoso, LG Fischer unpubl. data 2025). Commercial pair trawl headrope and footrope lengths in south Brazil vary from 17.4–28.2 m and from 19.4–31.5 m, respectively. The mesh size ranges between 9–12 cm, measured from knot to knot (Queirolo et al. 2016). Data comprised the number of individuals and total kilograms per species in each pair trawl haul, and the total length (TL) was calculated based on the length-weight relationship using parameters for each species available on FishBase (Froese et al. 2013; Froese & Pauly 2024). All species were captured in higher numbers within this area compared to adjacent areas.

A total of 30 Eyespot Skate were captured in 36% (n = 5) of 14 hauls (outside this area it was captured in 23% out of 310). Individuals were captured in 2022 and 2023 (June and November) (DS Monteiro, LG Cardoso, LG Fischer unpubl. data 2025). The highest number of individuals per haul was 24 (average = 2.1 [average outside this area = 0.5]).

A total of 97 Bignose Fanskate were captured in 36% (n = 5) of 14 hauls (outside this area, it was captured in 16% [n = 49 hauls] out of 310). Individuals were captured in 2022 and 2023 (June and November) (DS Monteiro, LG Cardoso, LG Fischer unpubl. data 2025). The highest number of individuals per haul was 26 (average = 6.9 [average outside this area = 1.8]).

A total of 33 Smallnose Fanskate were captured in 36% (n = 5) of 14 hauls (outside this area, it was captured in 8.4% [n = 26 hauls]out of 310). Individuals were captured in 2022 and 2023 (June and November) (DS Monteiro, LG Cardoso, LG Fischer unpubl. data 2025). The highest number of individuals per haul was 11 (average = 2.4 [average outside this area = 0.8]).

Santa Marta Cape

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