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REVIEW article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Megafauna
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1427334

Cetaceans of north-western continental Africa (Morocco to Liberia): diversity and distribution

Provisionally accepted
Ana Mafalda T. Correia Ana Mafalda T. Correia 1,2*Marieta Mihova Marieta Mihova 1,2Ágatha Gil Ágatha Gil 1,2Cláudia Oliveira-Rodrigues Cláudia Oliveira-Rodrigues 1,2Luís Afonso Luís Afonso 1*Raul Valente Raul Valente 1,2Massimiliano Rosso Massimiliano Rosso 1,3Isabel Sousa Pinto Isabel Sousa Pinto 1,2Graham J. Pierce Graham J. Pierce 4,5
  • 1 Interdisciplinary Center for Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Matosinhos, Portugal
  • 2 Departament of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
  • 3 CIMA Research Foundation, Savona, Italy
  • 4 Institute of Marine Research, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Vigo, Madrid, Spain
  • 5 Oceanlab, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The north-western coast of Africa is one of the most productive marine systems in the world, where a high diversity of cetacean species has been recorded. However, management of human activities that impact cetacean populations in the area is inadequate, in part due to poor knowledge on cetacean occurrence and the lack of systematic surveys. We reviewed existing knowledge on cetacean distribution between Morocco and Liberia and analyzed the spatial and temporal distribution of records, as well as species occurrence, further discussing the reported distribution ranges. The systematic literature review included 39 sources reporting on 36 species in the area, with a total of 2241 sightings and 2178 non-sighting records. Delphinus delphis (common dolphin) and Tursiops truncatus (bottlenose dolphin) are the two species with the highest number of sources reporting on them. This review reveals a spatially and temporally heterogeneous coverage of the area in the literature and published data on cetacean occurrence. In summary, although most of the compiled sources are recently published (2011-2020), the majority of records are from prior to 2000. In several range states, especially south of Senegal, little information is available. Therefore, the available information is unlikely to represent the current status of cetacean communities in the region. It is essential to fill knowledge gaps by increasing the collection of cetacean distribution data in the area, in order to support effective conservation measures and ensure sustainable utilization of the living marine resources in this rapidly developing region.

    Keywords: Species inventory, species richness, range, Occurrence data, spatiotemporal, literature coverage

    Received: 03 May 2024; Accepted: 01 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Correia, Mihova, Gil, Oliveira-Rodrigues, Afonso, Valente, Rosso, Sousa Pinto and Pierce. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Ana Mafalda T. Correia, Interdisciplinary Center for Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Matosinhos, Portugal
    Luís Afonso, Interdisciplinary Center for Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Matosinhos, Portugal

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