Cold-water coral reef habitats benefit recreationally valuable sharks

We provide a case study to demonstrate how a key ecosystem function of coral reefs (habitat provision) co-benefits both sharks and humans. Spawning grounds of the blackmouth catshark Galeus melastomus were discovered using seabed and video surveys on the Mingulay Reef Complex, a seascape of cold-water coral reefs off western Scotland. Spawning habitats were environmentally similar across years. Shark abundance of G. melastomus, a species valued...