The effective environmental factors on habitat use of three elasmobranch species in the Iranian waters of Gulf of Oman

Current study was aimed effect of environmental factors on spatial ecology and habitat use of three sympatric elasmobranch species in the Iranian waters of Gulf of Oman. Sampling was carried out from the northern part of Gulf of Oman using bottom trawl of FERDOWS from October to November 2017. Environmental factors were recorded by CTD and the GAM model was used to determine the factors influencing on habitat preferences by species. The results showed that chlorophyll a is the most effective factor in the habitat use of Iago omanensis. On the other hand, the frequency of Rhinobatos annandalei had a significant correlation with the dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a, temperature and electrical conductivity. Also, temperature and electrical conductivity had the most important role on the spatial ecology of Torpedo sinuspersici. The results of this study improve our knowledge and understanding of the ecology of the distribution of sympatric elasmobranch species in the Gulf of Oman, which can be used to introduce locations with the probability of these species and their spatial analysis for other interested researchers and future fishery management.