Shark ecology, the role of the apex predator and current conservation status

Abstract Feeding studies, since traditional stomach content analysis to stable isotopes analyses, provides insights into the trophic relationship among the apex predators and the ecosystems they inhabit. The Pacific Coast of Mexico (PCM) is inhabited by 62 known species (or 12%) of living sharks, which belong to 21 families and 34 genera. We divide the Pacific Coast of Mexico (PCM) into four regions for consideration: (1) the western coast of Baja California (WcBJ), (2) the Gulf of California (GC), (3) the Central Pacific Mexican (CPM), and (4) the Gulf of Tehuantepec (GT). Biodiversity is highest in the GC, with 48 shark species, followed by the WcBJ with 44 species, then the CPM with 28 species and the GT with 26 species. Few large species (> 2 m in total length) function as top predators in any region, with a greater number of smaller shark species (