The maximum intrinsic population growth rate, r max , is a key determinant of sustainable fishing limits and is increasingly used in risk assessments. We previously showed how the r max of rays and skates (subclass Batoidea) scales with adult body size, temperature (and hence depth) such that smaller‐bodied species and those in warmer, shallower waters have greater r max and, therefore, will be less sensitive to overexploitati...

Life history strategies are shaped by phylogeny, environmental conditions and individual energy budgets, and have implications for conservation biology. We summarised life history traits of 151 elasmobranch species into life history strategies for two contrasting feeding levels, representing two different environments, in a principal components analysis. Two axes, reproductive output and generation turnover, structure elasmobr...

Devil rays ( Mobula spp.) are caught in fisheries across the Indian Ocean, with reports of significant recent declines in catch and sightings. Globally, the few populations studied have extremely low population growth rates due to low fecundity and long reproductive cycles, making them highly vulnerable to overfishing. To allow for assessment of the current sustainability of devil ray catch in the Indian Ocean, we provide esti...

The Baraka's whipray ( Maculabatis ambigua ) is a major constituent of small‐scale fisheries catch in the south‐western Indian Ocean. Despite this, little is known of its life‐history or exploitation status. We provide the first estimates of crucial life‐history parameters and the maximum intrinsic population growth rate r max , using specimens collected from small‐scale fisheries landings in Kenya, Zanzibar and Madagascar (wi...