SHARK and RAYS OF AUSTRALIA
| Collection Location | Balai Riset Perikanan Laut Jakarta |
| Edition | |
| Call Number | 597.33 Las s |
| ISBN/ISSN | 0 643 05143 0 |
| Author(s) | P.R. Last J.D. Stevens |
| Subject(s) | RAYS SHARKS Of Australia |
| Classification | 597.33 |
| Series Title | GMD | Text |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | CSIRO Australia |
| Publishing Year | 1994 |
| Publishing Place | Australia |
| Collation | 513p.; ilus.; 31 cm |
| Abstract/Notes | The shark and ray fauna is of considerable commercial interest worldwide. For example, up to 60.000 tonners of stingrays are caught annually off India, and the dogfish fishery of the North Sea sustains the traditional ‘fish and chips’ of the British Isles. In the Australian region, fisheries for school and gummy sharks are well established in the south of the continent, and a fishery for blacktip sharks is developing in the north. There is the potential for development of fisheries for blue sharks, skates, and deepwater dogfishes for both food and fish oils. Apart from this commercial significance, the Australian shark and ray fauna is unique in its diversity and scientific importance: it is almost 50 per cent more diverse than other comparable regions of the world. However, despite an almost universal popular interest in sharks and rays, it is over 50 years since their identification and ecology in Australia have been examined comprehensively. During that time the number of identified species in the Autralian region rose from about 160 to 300. Tis book is an invaluable source of information for anyone wanting to know more about this ancient, unique, and commercially important group of animals. Within its pages you will find colour plates painted with exquisite care to record accurately details of from and colour: There are taxonomic keys, technical descriptions for the professional scientist, and over 1400 black and white illustrations to aid in the identification of every species. There are maps of their geographical distributions, and information on the feeding, biology, reproduction and other aspect of natural history of each species. The production of the book was financed by CSIRO, with a significant contribution from the Fishing Indusrty Research and Develpoment Council. It could not have been written without the presence of the taxonomic collection of fishes at the CSIRO Division of Fisheries. The I.S.R. Munro collection was built up over many years, and owes its existence to the lodging of specimens collected during the Division’s research cruises, donations from other researche organizations and from specimens brought in by fisherman curious about the amazing fauna that inhabits our waters. The collection is now one of the two most significanttaxonomic collections of sharks and rays in the Southern Hemisphere, and is a significant record of Australia’s marine vertebrate biodiversity. The book is a fascinating source of information to the general-interest reader, an indispensable compendium to the research taxonomist, a catalogue of information pertaining to Australia’s biodivercity, and a baseline reference for the fishing industy in its search for sustainable development of our marine fisheries resources. I congratulate the authors for producing this significant contribution to knowledge, and am sure that it will find a place wherever books on our Australian animals are found – from fishing boats to academic libraries. |
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