Search for the vulnerable giants: the presence of giant guitarfish and wedgefish in the Karimunjawa National Park and adjacent waters

Alghozali, FA ORCID: 0000-0003-4835-1486, Gustianto, MWD ORCID: 0000-0002-9485-4183, Hanifah, A ORCID: 0009-0009-8964-0381, Nadia, M ORCID: 0009-0007-5854-5977, Widyastuti, NP, Prabhu, N ORCID: 0009-0004-2696-9423, Adhim, LF, Nurhaliza, KA, Booth, H ORCID: 0000-0003-4339-820X, Ichsan, M ORCID: 0000-0002-8156-9666, Prasetyo, A ORCID: 0000-0002-7412-8432 and Ichida, N (2023) Search for the vulnerable giants: the presence of giant guitarfish and wedgefish in the Karimunjawa National Park and adjacent waters. Marine and Freshwater Research, 74 (16). pp. 1420-1430. ISSN 1323-1650

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Abstract

Context. Giant guitarfish (Family: Glaucostegidae) and wedgefish (Family: Rhinidae) (Critically Endangered, IUCN Red List and CITES Appendix II) are highly exploited throughout their distribution because of their highly valued fins in the international market. Both are commonly caught as bycatch or secondary valuable catch in the Java Sea, including in Karimunjawa National Park, Central Java, Indonesia. Aims. Assess the presence and relative abundance of giant guitarfish and wedgefish species in Karimunjawa National Park and adjacent waters. Methods. Data were collected using baited remote underwater video (BRUV) surveys across 40 sites, covering multiple zonation areas and depth ranges. All species were identified to the species level and their relative abundance was tested with one-way PERMANOVA based on sites, zonation areas and depths. Key results. Two target species, Glaucostegus typus and Rhynchobatus australiae, were present in the study area with a maximum number of 3 and 6 and relative abundance of 0.0048 and 0.0096 respectively, over 477 BRUVs and 623.9 h of videos. Their presence during the study was not affected by sites, zonations or depth. Implications. The presence and relative abundance of both G. typus and R. australiae were low, which may be a result of decades of overfishing, and have provided the first information to the urgency of managing the species in the areas.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	41 Environmental Sciences; 3103 Ecology; 4104 Environmental Management; 31 Biological Sciences; 13 Climate Action; 14 Life Below Water; Marine Biology & Hydrobiology
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences S Agriculture > SH Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling
Divisions:	Biological and Environmental Sciences (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	CSIRO Publishing
Date of acceptance:	11 October 2023
Date of first compliant Open Access:	30 October 2025
Date Deposited:	30 Oct 2025 10:12
Last Modified:	30 Oct 2025 10:15
DOI or ID number:	10.1071/MF23101
Editors:	Randhawa, H
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27445

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