A revised estimate of daily ration in the tiger shark with implication for assessing ecosystem impacts of apex predators

The ecological importance of intact top-predator populations: a synthesis of 15 years of research in a seagrass ecosystem

Theworldwide decline of large-bodiedmarine taxa hasmade it difficult to draw conclusions about the relative importance of top-down control, and the mechanisms through which it might operate, in coastal marine ecosystems. Since 1997, the Shark Bay Ecosystem Research Project has used the relatively pristine seagrass community of Shark Bay, Australia, to investigate the potential for tiger sharks,...

A Brief Look at Human Impacts on Sharks

This brief review examines the many human activities that threaten sharks, their impacts, and the implications for the ecosystems that rely upon these apex predators. As keystone species, sharks play a crucial role in maintaining healthy ecosystems by asserting top-down forces on trophic webs and keeping prey populations healthy and in balance. However, sharks’ slow growth rates, low fecundity ...

The role of apex predators in coastal ecosystems: A case study examining the Broadnose Sevengill Shark Notorynchus Cepedianus

Ontogeny of head and caudal fin shape of an apex marine predator: The tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier).

How morphology changes with size can have profound effects on the life history and ecology of an animal. For apex predators that can impact higher level ecosystem processes, such changes may have consequences for other species. Tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) are an apex predator in tropical seas, and, as adults, are highly migratory. However, little is known about ontogenetic changes in their...

Isolation and characterization of eight microsatellite loci from Galeocerdo cuvier (tiger shark) and cross-amplification in Carcharhinus leucas, Carcharhinus brevipinna, Carcharhinus plumbeus and Sphyrna lewini

The tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier (Carcharhinidae) is a large elasmobranch suspected to have, as other apex predators, a keystone function in marine ecosystems and is currently considered Near Threatened (Red list IUCN). Knowledge on its ecology, which is crucial to design proper conservation and management plans, is very scarce. Here we describe the isolation of eight polymorphic microsatellit...