South African Chondrichthyan Species List
204 of worldwide 1188 Chondrichthyan species are known to occur in Southern Africa [1] –117 shark, 79 batoid and 8 chimaera species – making it the 4th most diverse region for cartilaginous fish globally [2]. The East coast (175 species) is more diverse than the West coast (96 species) [1]. According to the IUCN Redlist, 32.7% of Southern African Chondrichthyan species are classified as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered - this is twice as high as the global average (15.9%) [1].
This list includes Chondrichthyan records in Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique. Please consult the references given at the end of the document for more information. You can find a pdf version of this list under Resources.
References
[1] Ebert DA, van Hees KE. 2015. Beyond Jaws: rediscovering the ‘lost sharks’ of southern Africa. African Journal of Marine Science 37(2): 141-156.
[2] Weigman S. 2016. Annotated checklist of the living sharks, batoids and chimaeras (Chondrichthyes) of the world, with a focus on biogeographical diversity. Journal of Fish Biology (2016).