Updated checklist of Azores Chondrichthyes (Vertebrata: Gnathostomata)

Chondrichthyes are commonly known as cartilaginous fishes and includes chimeras, sharks and rays. They can be found from the cold deep-sea to subtropical and tropical waters (Greemberg 2009). Sharks and rays have a great recreational and ecological interest (Vieira et al. 2020); however, many species worldwide are declining due to global overfishing (Worm et al. 2013). The total estimation for risk extinction, according to the IUCN Red List criteria, indicates that a quarter of all shark and ray species are threatened (Dulvy et al. 2014). The first comprehensive chondrichthyan checklist for Azores was published over 20 years ago by Santos et al. (1997). After that, some updates were made, most of them integrated in marine fish or biodiversity lists (e.g. Porteiro et al. 2010). In the meantime, new publications have emerged regarding new records (e.g. Catarino et al. 2020) or with new information on species already recorded for Azores (e.g. Das and Afonso 2017, Barcelos et al. 2018). The present work gives taxonomic updates and information regarding the conservation status (IUCN) for all chondrichthyan species from the Azores' EEZ. This is the first complete and updated list of chondrichthyans that can be found in the GBIF online platform (Barcelos et al. 2020). Funding Institutions: Azores PO 2020 - ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072; This project was financed by FEDER in 85% and by Azorean Public funds by 15% through the Operational Programme Azores 2020. This work is also funded by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 Programme and National Funds through FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the Research Infrastructure PORBIOTA - Portuguese E-Infrastructure for Information and Research on Biodiversity, project number POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022127.