New shark species discovered in Belize

Posted: Saturday, February 4, 2017. 10:45 a.m. CST.

By BBN Staff: Researchers from Florida International University (FIU) say that they have discovered a new species of hammer head shark in Belize.Demian Chapman, FIU researcher, was in Belize researching bonnethead sharks, when he made the discovery. Chapman said that when they analyzed the DNA of the shark they caught, it did not match the DNA of the bonnetheads found in this region. The DNA analysis was conducted by Andrew Fields from Stony Brook University.

“Now we have to define the range of each of these species individually and assess them independently against where the potential threats are,”  Chapman said.

He added that the new species discovered in Belize could mean that there are several other species which have not yet been discovered.

Chapman is currently leading a shark survey project called Global Finprint, which is trying to determine the cause for the decreasing number of sharks and rays.