Problem for Conservation When Ecosystem's Differences Result In New Species

Evolutionary biologists at Flinders and Macquarie Universities studied how different oceanographic conditions in the Gulf of California and the Baja California Peninsula (Mexico) gave rise to new species of guitarfish (genus Pseudobatos). They discovered four species of guitarfish that look similar but are genetically different. Each species appears to have adapted to a separate region resulting in improved odds for their survival and reproduction. The problem: if the four species are managed as a single species─rather than four distinct species─one or more of those species could be over-exploited and become extinct.

Sandoval‐Castillo J, Beheregaray LB. Oceanographic heterogeneity influences an ecological radiation in elasmobranchs. Journal of Biogeography [First published online:15 May 2020]. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13865