Gatuzo (Narrownose Smoothhound)
What it is
A small bottom-dwelling shark, endemic to the south-west Atlantic. It ranges from southern Brazil to Argentina, on the continental shelf, at depths from just a few metres to more than 100 m. It reaches about 1 metre in length. It feeds mainly on crabs and other crustaceans, along with small fish and bottom invertebrates. It is a slow-growing, late-maturing species: each female produces few pups per litter, which means the population recovers very slowly from any fishing pressure.
Conservation status
IUCN Red List, 2020 assessment, criterion A2bd. An estimated population decline of more than 80% over the last three generations (about 28 years), attributed to intense and largely unmanaged fishing pressure across its entire range, with no depth refuge.
Threats
It is the most heavily exploited elasmobranch in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. It is caught both as a targeted catch and as bycatch in bottom trawling. Much of its juvenile population uses the shallow coastal waters of the Buenos Aires and Uruguayan coasts — exactly the strip where artisanal fishing is concentrated.
Gatuzo is sold at fish shops in Argentina and Uruguay under generic commercial names, filleted and headless. Thousands of people eat a Critically Endangered shark without knowing it. It is the species that best shows that extinction doesn't always happen far away — sometimes it happens at the corner fish shop.
Related activities
- The shadow of the wave
- The shark at the counter
- Eyes on the shoreline
- Pollom, R., Barreto, R., Charvet, P., Chiaramonte, G.E., Cuevas, J.M., Herman, K., Montealegre-Quijano, S., Motta, F., Paesch, L. & Rincon, G. (2020). Mustelus schmitti. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T60203A3092243.
- Belleggia, M. et al. (2021). Marine and Fishery Sciences (MAFIS) 34(2): 269-274.