Download AEBR 203 Identification accuracy of six species of deepsea sharks sampled at sea by MPI observers, October 2016 to December 2017

The accuracy of at-sea identification of six species of deepsea sharks by MPI observers was determined by NIWA using photographs taken at the time of sampling. DNA barcoding analysis was also used to identify specimens that lacked photographs, using muscle tissues taken by the observers from each shark specimen. The six species sampled in the study were:
• Seal shark Dalatias licha, BSH
• Leafscale gulper shark Centrophorus squamosus, CSQ
• Owston’s dogfish Centroscymnus owstonii, CYO
• Longnose velvet dogfish Centroselachus crepidater, CYP
• Baxter’s lantern dogfish Etmopterus granulosus, ETB
• Plunket’s shark Proscymnodon plunketi, PLS