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The blue shark (Prionace glauca) is the most frequently captured shark in pelagic oceanic fisheries, especially pelagic longlines targeting swordfish and/or tunas. As part of cooperative scientific efforts for fisheries and biological data collection, information from fishery observers, scientific projects and surveys, and from recreational fisheries from several nations in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans was compiled. Data sets included information on location, size and sex, in a total of 478,220 blue shark records collected between 1966 and 2014. Sizes ranged from 36 to 394 cm fork length. Considerable variability was observed in the size distribution by region and season in both oceans. Larger blue sharks tend to occur in equatorial and tropical regions, and smaller specimens in higher latitudes in temperate waters. Differences in sex ratios were also detected spatially and seasonally. Nursery areas in the Atlantic seem to occur in the temperate south-east off South Africa and Namibia, in the south-west off southern Brazil and Uruguay, and in the north-east off the Iberian Peninsula and the Azores. Parturition may occur in the tropical north-east off West Africa. In the Indian Ocean, nursery areas also seem to occur in temperate waters, especially in the southwest Indian Ocean off South Africa, and in the south-east off south-western Australia. The distributional patterns presented in this study provide a better understanding of how blue sharks segregate by size and sex, spatially and temporally, and improve the scientific advice to help adopt more informed and efficient management and conservation measures for this cosmopolitan species., Sí

The occurrence of tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier in the Atlantic Ocean was assessed using at-sea observer data from multiple pelagic longline fisheries. Geographic positions of 2764 G. cuvier recorded between 1992 and 2013 and covering a wide area of the Atlantic Ocean were compared with the currently accepted distribution ranges of the species. Most records fell outside those ranges in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres, which strongly suggests that the distribution range of G. cuvier in the open ocean is considerably larger than previously described.

Regions with intense maturation-reproduction processes versus other regions showing less frequent, sporadic and non-existent maturation events were characterized on the basis of the gonadal index of 18,279 female swordfish. Females larger than 145 cm lower jaw-fork length (LJFL) may present high or low gonadal index values depending on the region and season. The highest gonadal indices were observed mostly in areas having Sea Surface Temperature (SST) ranging between 24°-29°C. However, the reproductive activity of females appears to be mainly restricted to the warmer epipelagic layers of the western regions with a deeper thermocline. The size at first maturity of females (LJFL50) was estimated at 146.5 cm LJFL and the maturity function was pm= 1 / (1 + e(-0.1398 (LJFL-146.5))). Qualitative maturity indicators of females support the results obtained using gonadal indices. According to catch rate data by size, sex and region, the presence of males 125- 165 cm LJFL would account for the high prevalence of males in regions where the most intense reproductive processes were observed. The characteristic ‘spawning’ related sex-ratio at size patterns are explained by thi s positive anomaly in these regions favouring males in a ratio up to 9 or 11 times greater than the abundance of females within the same medium size range. The complex reproductive process of this species would point to the practice of courting rituals, which would explain the migratory pattern of this species and its stratification by area-size-sex., SI

Captura asociada a la pesquería de palangre de superficie dirigida a pez espada, The bigeye thresher (Alopias supercilious) is occasionally caught as bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries targeting tunas and swordfish. Still, it is one of the least known and studied of all pelagic sharks, which hinders assessment of the status of its populations. As part of an ongoing cooperative program for fisheries and biological data collection, information collected by fishery observers and through scientific projects from several nations that undertake fishing activities in the Atlantic (Japan, Portugal, Spain,Taiwan, Uruguay and US) was compiled and analyzed. Datasets include information on location, size, sex and, in some cases, maturity stage. A total of 5590 bigeye thresher records collected between 1992 and 2013 were compiled, with sizes ranging from 70 to 305 cm fork length (FL). Considerable variability was observed in size, with tropical regions recording a smaller mean size compared to other regions. The distribution of juvenile and adult specimens also showed considerable variability, and the sex ratios varied between regions and size classes. Median sizes at maturity were estimated at 208.6 cm FL for females and 159.2 cm FL for males. Pregnant females were recorded in the tropical northeast and southwest Atlantic, with these regions possibly serving as nursery areas. The biological and distributional patterns presented in this study provide a better understanding of different aspects of this species in the Atlantic, which can help managers adopt more informed and efficient conservation measures., SI

Previous genetic studies of Atlantic swordfish (Xiphias gladius L.) revealed significant differentiation among Mediterranean, North Atlantic and South Atlantic populations using both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA data. However, limitations in geographic sampling coverage, and the use of single loci, precluded an accurate placement of boundaries and of estimates of admixture. In this study, we present multilocus analyses of 26 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 10 nuclear genes to estimate population differentiation and admixture based on the characterization of 774 individuals representing North Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Mediterranean swordfish populations. Pairwise F ST values, AMOVA, PCoA, and Bayesian individual assignments support the differentiation of swordfish inhabiting these three basins, but not the current placement of the boundaries that separate them. Specifically, the range of the South Atlantic population extends beyond 5°N management boundary to 20°N-25°N from 45°W. Likewise the Mediterranean population extends beyond the current management boundary at the Strait of Gibraltar to approximately 10°W. Further, admixture zones, characterized by asymmetric contributions of adjacent populations within samples, are confined to the Northeast Atlantic. While South Atlantic and Mediterranean migrants were identified within these Northeast Atlantic admixture zones no North Atlantic migrants were identified respectively in these two neighboring basins. Owing to both, the characterization of larger number of loci and a more ample spatial sampling coverage, it was possible to provide a finer resolution of the boundaries separating Atlantic swordfish populations than previous studies. Finally, the patterns of population structure and admixture are discussed in the light of the reproductive biology, the known patterns of dispersal, and oceanographic features that may act as barriers to gene flow to Atlantic swordfish.