Biodiversity of the Chondrichthyan Populations, Their Biological, Taxonomic and Biogeographical Features

Dear Colleagues,

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, sharks, rays, and chimaeras are among the most endangered marine animals on the planet. Because of overfishing, habitat loss, and the climate crisis, 37% of the world’s chondrichthyan species are threatened with extinction.

Non-sustainable fishery and habitat degradation are the main anthropogenic causes of the loss of biodiversity. Indeed, the conservation approaches adopted worldwide show a large variety of basic assumptions connected to the human–nature relationship. These assumptions are often complex and turn out to be ever closely linked to human habits. All this affects the stability of the chondrichthyan population. This condition is also strictly linked to the biology of the species, which is characterized by very low resilience to anthropogenic disturbances. Therefore, thanks to the biological features of the species and their taxonomy, one of the main concerns for the scientific and socio-political communities is how to enhance biodiversity conservation and to stop the loss of biological diversity through clear and concrete solutions.

Chondrichthyans are a good indicator of the importance of this consideration, as they play a fundamental role in the ecosystem balance. In fact, being, in general, the top predators of the food web, their decrease in terms of biomass or number of individuals or even their disappearance risks creating critical situations among trophic relationships. This condition can activate difficult-to-manage phenomena with negative, even irreversible results.

When the biodiversity of cartilaginous fishes is evaluated, it is not only important to know the taxonomic lists of the species in the various marine regions, but it is also fundamental and useful to know their geographical distribution and the diverse causes that afflict their populations and their overall conservation status, foremost among all overfishing and degradation of their habitats. Moreover, when we consider the role that chondrichthyans have in the marine ecosystem, we should talk about an integrated approach, employing multiple practices of conservation.

The main goal of our generation is to live in harmony with nature by 2050. The actions to develop are urgent and involve the whole society, and should be engaged in the achievement of the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, in summary, reducing the threats to biodiversity and ensuring a sustainable use of resources.

In this sense, the human community, exploiting marine resources, is an integral part of the marine ecosystem, and it is obliged to adopt an innovative approach that considers the principles governing the balance of the entire ecosystem. The monitoring and evaluation of biological diversity becomes of vital importance to ensure the survival of all marine organisms.

Dr. Fabrizio Serena
Dr. Monica Barone
Guest Editors

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• biodiversity
• marine biogeography
• taxonomic checklists
• evaluation of wild resources
• ecological role