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Further observations on foetal abnormalities in the blue shark Prionace glauca (Chondrichthyes: Carcharhinidae) from north-west Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2011

Olga Marcela Bejarano-Álvarez ,
Felipe Galván-Magaña  and
Rosa I. Ochoa-Báez
Olga Marcela Bejarano-Álvarez
Affiliation:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR-IPN), Av. IPN s/n Col, Playa Palo de Santa Rita, La Paz, Baja California Sur CP 23096, Mexico
Felipe Galván-Magaña*
Affiliation:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR-IPN), Av. IPN s/n Col, Playa Palo de Santa Rita, La Paz, Baja California Sur CP 23096, Mexico
Rosa I. Ochoa-Báez
Affiliation:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR-IPN), Av. IPN s/n Col, Playa Palo de Santa Rita, La Paz, Baja California Sur CP 23096, Mexico
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: F. Galván-Magaña, Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR-IPN), Departamento de Pesquerías y Biología Marina, Av. IPN s/n Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, La Paz, BCS CP 23096Mexico email: galvan.felipe@gmail.com
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Abstract

Information on morphological abnormalities in the cephalic region of three female blue sharks' (Prionace glauca) foetuses found in Baja California Sur, Mexico, is included. In one foetus with bicephaly, the liver was shared. In the other two foetuses they do not have eyes, and part of their snout was not well-developed, with malformations in cranial cartilage and gill slits. A possible explanation for these deformities in blue shark embryos is that the blue shark is the most fecund shark worldwide with the highest number of embryos produced and not all embryos can be developed in their small uteri.

Keywords

Chondrichthyescephalic abnormalitiesbicephaliaembryo
Type
Research Article
Information
Marine Biodiversity Records , Volume 4 , December 2011 , e82
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011

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