Until the present day there has been no handbook enumerating the captive care of sharks and rays. Information has been available in scientific journals, the gray literature, and predominantly within the memones of experienced aquarium veterans, but it has been typically scattered and difficult to access. It seems incredible that the husbandry of such an important and charismatic group of animals has not been more comprehensively addressed in the literature. The Elasmobranch Husbandry Manual: Captive Care of Sharks, Rays and their Relatives attempts a first step toward addressing this oversight.
As a catalyst to the development of the Manual the 1st International Elasmobranch Husbandry Symposium was held in Orlando, Florida (USA), between the 3rd and 7th of October in 2001. The first three days of the Symposlum included invited papers, representing the formal chapters of the The Elasmobranch Husbandry Manual: Captive Care of Sharks, Rays and their Relatives, and an additional day was made available for the presentation of voluntary contributions and the discussion of a plan of action. Bringing together ~180 learned individuals from 16 countries, the Symposium provided an opportunity to exchange information about the husbandry of elasmobranchs and to conduct an informal peer review of the contributions made by invited speakers. Following the Symposium, invited contributions were then peer-reviewed in a more formal manner and the result is The Elasmobranch Husbandry Manual: Captive Care of Sharks, Rays and their Relatives you are now reading.