Ecosystem overviews

Azores Ecosystem Overview

​​Impacts on threatened and declining fish species in the Azorean ecoregion

​Several fish species that have been adversely affected by fishing in the Atlantic are now on the OSPAR list of threatened and declining species (see full list in Table 1). These include the spurdog (Squallus acanthias), the common skate complex (Dipturus spp.), porbeagle (Lamna nasus), and some deep-water sharks. Although there are either zero TACs for these species, or they are listed as prohibited, several of them remain vulnerable to existing fisheries.

​Table 1

OSPAR-listed threatened and declining species and habitats that occur in the Azores ecoregion.

Scientific nameCommon name
Invertebrates
Megabalanus azoricus Azorean barnacle
Patella ulyssiponensis aspera Azorean limpet
Birds
Puffinus assimilis baroli (auct.incert.) Little shearwater
Sterna dougalliiRoseate tern
Rissa tridactylaBlack-legged kittiwake
Puffinus mauretanicusBalearic shearwater
Fish
Centroscymnus coelolepis Portuguese dogfish
Centrophorus granulosus Gulper shark
Centrophorus squamosus Leafscale gulper shark
Cetorhinus maximus Basking shark
Dipturus batis  (synonym: Raja batis) Common skate
Hippocampus guttulatus  (synonym: Hippocampus ramulosus)Long-snouted seahorse
Hippocampus hippocampus Short-snouted seahorse
Hoplostethus atlanticus Orange roughy
Lamna nasus Porbeagle
Squalus acanthias [Northeast Atlantic] spurdog
Thunnus thynnus Bluefin tuna
Reptiles
Caretta caretta Loggerhead turtle
Dermochelys coriacea Leatherback turtle
Mammals
Balaenoptera musculus Blue whale
Eubalaena glacialis Northern right whale

 

Threatened and declining habitats in the Azorean ecoregion

 

Table 2

Threatened and declining habitats in the Azores ecoregion according to OSPAR.

Habitats
Coral gardens
Deep-sea sponge aggregations
Lophelia pertusa reefs
Oceanic ridges with hydrothermal vents/fields
Seamounts


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Azores Ecosystem Overview

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