Elasmobranch Citizen Science Records from Mozambique, 2007-2025

408 elasmobranch records from the iNaturalist platform collected along the Mozambican coast between 2007 and 2025. The dataset documents 44 species, with 82% of records classified as research grade, and reveals spatial biases in sampling effort. It was authored by Dércio Maoze and published on figshare in 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze species composition and conservation status based on the 44 documented elasmobranch species and their IUCN Red List classifications.
• Identify spatial sampling biases and protection gaps based on the geographic distribution of records and their overlap with Marine Protected Areas.
• Assess the reliability of citizen science data for scientific applications based on the proportion of records classified as research grade.
• Examine temporal trends in species observations based on the increase in records noted over the last decade.

Strengths

• Contains 408 research-grade records, with 82% classified as research grade, supporting data reliability.
• Documents 44 elasmobranch species, accounting for 32% of the 137 species previously reported in Mozambique.
• Covers a temporal range from 2007 to 2025, allowing for analysis of trends over nearly two decades.
• Provides explicit conservation context, noting that 71% of recorded species are classified as threatened on the IUCN Red List.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data reflects a documented spatial bias toward southern provinces of Mozambique, which may limit representativeness for the entire coast.

Provenance

Source

iNaturalist citizen science platform.

Collection Method

Records collected via citizen science observations.

Time Range

2007 to 2025

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-27 04:14:41; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Mozambican coast, with noted concentration in Inhambane and Maputo provinces.