author(s)
Sahaya Vilovetheen Thilaka V, Jayakumar N, Jawahar P and Ahilan B

abstract
The shark resource of India is one of the richest elasmobranch fisheries resources in the world with 88 species. An annotated checklist of sharks occurring in South Tamil Nadu situated along Southeast coast of India is presented. The present checklist is the result of a large biodiversity study on the shark resources of south Tamil Nadu conducted between August 2017 and July 2018. Documenting sharks in specific regions and understanding their taxonomy and diversity in particular ecosystems are very important for conservation and management of these decreasing resources. In this regard, occurrence and abundance data of shark species were collected from three different marine fish landing centers viz., Therespuram, Chinnamuttom and Thoothoor located along south Tamil Nadu coast to understand the shark diversity. The number of individuals in each species was also recorded. In the present study, 45 species of sharks belonging to four orders, 13 families and 22 genera were recorded. The order, Carcharhiniformes had the largest number of species (32), followed by Lamniformes (5). Likewise, the family, Carcharhinidae (24) had the largest species representation followed by Sphyrnidae (4) and Alopiidae (3). This checklist represents the first detailed, verified checklist of shark resources from south Tamil Nadu.