Sharks and rays in Indian commercial fisheries: need for revision of taxonomy

India is one of the leading chondrichthyan fishing nations, with an estimated landing of 52,602 tonnes (sharks 44.6%, rays 51.5% and skates 3.9%) in 2012 , contributing 1.3% to the total marine fish landings in the country. While there is a targeted fishery for sharks and rays, these groups constitute an important bycatch of commercial fisheries for bony fishes and shellfishes as well. The fishery is dominated by species belonging to families Carcharhinidae, Dasyatidae, Alopiidae, Sphyrnidae and Mobulidae. Earlier publications during different periods have recorded that 84 to 114 species occurring Indian seas. A study by Akhilesh (2013) catalogued 220 chondrichthyans listed from India, including 60 species of uncertain taxonomic status indicating the need for species diversity surveys. Thus there is confusion and inconsistencies in species identification, which is an impediment for arriving at conclusions on species listing and protection. The present paper is an attempt to highlight this issue with examples and stress the need to resolve the issues through conventional and molecular identification techniques