(Video: Charney School of Marine Sciences)
The coastal strip between Ma’agan Michael and Dor Beach, south of Haifa, serves as a nursery habitat for Atlantic guitarfish, a critically endangered species of cartilaginous fish. This finding comes from a long-term study conducted by the Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa, published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.
The researchers found that young guitarfish congregate in this area between late August and early November, right along the shoreline.
“A nursery habitat is a natural area where animals, especially marine species, gather during the early stages of their lives,” explained doctoral candidate Einav Cohen, one of the study’s authors. “Nursery habitats are defined as areas that enhance the survival of young animals by providing optimal conditions in terms of food, protection from predators, and shelter from extreme environmental factors. We hope that following our findings, this area will be designated as a nature reserve, synchronized with the period when young guitarfish gather here to protect them.”
Populations of cartilaginous fish are declining globally, particularly in the Mediterranean, mainly due to overfishing and the use of fishing nets. These fish are now considered the vertebrate group at highest risk of extinction. The Atlantic guitarfish is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
According to the researchers, there is a significant lack of biological and ecological knowledge about guitarfish, including population size in Israel’s coastal waters and throughout its range. Most of the existing data comes from commercial fishing records. In the current study, conducted at the Morris Kahn Marine Research Station at the University of Haifa, researcher Barak Ezrieli from Sharks in Israel, along with Cohen, Dr. Leigh Livne, Dr. Aviad Scheinin, and others, aimed to promote the conservation of the Atlantic guitarfish and establish the Ma'agan Michael coastline as a nursery habitat for the species.
To officially recognize a coastal area as a nursery habitat for guitarfish, three criteria must be met: the presence of juvenile guitarfish during their gathering period, the fact that they remain in the area for an extended time and that this occurrence is repeated annually. These criteria were established in a 2007 study by a researcher specializing in nursery habitats for cartilaginous fish.
The first criterion is that more juvenile guitarfish are found in this coastal strip during the gathering period compared to other areas. The second is that the guitarfish remain in the area for more than two weeks. The third is that the phenomenon recurs over several years. In 2017, the researchers began conducting preliminary visual surveys along Israel’s coast using a specially designed app. They found that the density of young guitarfish at Ma’agan Michael Beach was significantly higher compared to a control site further south at Caesarea Beach.
Surveys conducted since 2017 have shown that large numbers of guitarfish appear between late August and late November. Continuous monitoring over the years has confirmed that these patterns are consistent. “The criteria we identified in this study show that the coastal area between Ma’agan Michael and Dor Beach meets international scientific guidelines for defining a site as a nursery habitat for cartilaginous fish,” Cohen explained.
The researchers hope their findings, which recognize the area as a nursery habitat for the Atlantic guitarfish, will lead to the designation of the region as a marine nature reserve.