Barreiros J. P. (2018) Os peixes nos mares dos Açores/The fish from the Azorean seas. My Plan Magazine, 14, 40-41.
Within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Azores, currently in the 200 nautical miles, about 520 species of fish are known and of these, precisely 10% (52) correspond to the so-called "cartilaginous fish", that is, that they do not have skeletal bones-sharks, rays and the lesser known chimeras. Indeed, the diversity of fish in the Azorean seas reflects a common pattern in regions of oceanic volcanic islands, with no continental shelf and a considerable number of deep-sea species, most of which occur below 400m. Of the total number of species so far proven to be present in the region, only about 80 are known to local fishermen and about 20 to 30 or so do have some kind of commercial interest, most of which only appearing as a result of bycatch. The location of the Archipelago in the warm temperate zone of the NE Atlantic, as well as the permanent influence of the warm currents of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, makes the Azores into what is already known as a " faunistic crossroads ".
João Pedro da Silva Ramos Barreiros Island Marine Biology
