Carcharhinus amblyrhynchoides | UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes

Taxa
Carcharhinus amblyrhynchoides | (Whitley, 1934)
Location
Countries in Assessment
United Arab Emirates
Country ISO code(s)
ARE
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Off
Scope (Assessment)
National
Taxon
Taxonomic Group
Vertebrates
Taxonomic Group Level 2
Fishes
Assessed taxon level
Species
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
The Graceful Shark occurs throughout UAE waters. Globally, it is widespread but patchy in the Indo-West Pacific (Last and Stevens 2009). This species is often confused with the Common Blacktip Shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) and possibly the Spinner Shark (C. brevipinna), which causes its distribution to be somewhat uncertain.
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Terrestrial system
No
Freshwater system
No
Marine system
Yes
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
The Graceful Shark is an inshore species that occurs on continental and insular shelves to a depth of 75 m (Ebert et al. 2013). It attains a maximum size of 243 cm total length (TL) (Jabado et al. 2015). Males mature about 140-177 cm TL and females at 167- 204 cm TL (Ebert et al. 2013, Jabado et al. 2015). Size at birth is probably 50-60 cm TL (Ebert et al. 2013). There are no age data available for this species, so generation length is inferred from the closely related Blacktip Shark (C. limbatus) from Indonesia at 13 years (Smart et al. 2015).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Vulnerable
Assessment status abreviation
VU
Assessment status criteria
A2cd
Assessment rationale/justification
The Graceful Shark occurs throughout UAE inshore waters. It is often confused with the Blacktip Shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) and possibly the Spinner Shark (C. brevipinna), which introduces uncertainty when interpreting catch data. Little specific data are available for this species in the UAE. It is apparently highly migratory, and has slow life history characteristics including low fecundity and a low annual rate of population increase. Considering this, the species has a low capacity to recover from even moderate levels of exploitation. It is especially susceptible to exploitation (target and bycatch) in in gill net, line and purse seine fisheries that operate within its range outside and surrounding UAE waters. Some management measures are now in place in the Arabian Sea region, although domestic fisheries are likely to continue. Though data specifically from the UAE are not available, individuals in the UAE are a component of a larger, interconnected and migratory population that occurs broadly in the north-western Indian Ocean. It is inferred that declines reported in the Arabian Sea region are representative of its status in the UAE. This species faces intense fishing pressures throughout the Arabian Sea. Based on recorded levels of exploitation and decline in habitat quality, it is suspected to have declined by at least 30% over the past three generation lengths, or about 39 years. It is listed as Vulnerable A2cd.
About the assessment
Assessment year
2019
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Affliation of assessor(s)/contributors/reviewers listed on assessment
Government
IGO
Assessor affiliation specific
Government|IGO
Criteria system
Criteria system specifics
IUCN v3.1
Criteria system used
IUCN
Criteria Citation
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
Endemism
Endemic to region
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Conservation
Threats listed in assessment
Information pertaining to threats specific to the UAE are unavailable. This species is impacted by target (for fins and their valuable meat) and bycatch fisheries that are active elsewhere in its range. Marine habitats in the region have experienced high levels of disturbance and are quickly deteriorating due to major impacts from development activities (Sheppard et al. 2010).
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

Scientific Name Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Carcharhinus amblyrhynchoides Animalia Chordata Chondrichthyes Carcharhiniformes Carcharhinidae Carcharhinus