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

Taxa
Carcharhinus leiodon | Garrick, 1985
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 Smoothtooth Blacktip Shark occurs throughout UAE waters. Globally, it is restricted to the Arabian Sea region from the Arabian Gulf, the Sea of Oman to Yemen.
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Terrestrial system
No
Freshwater system
No
Marine system
Yes
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This species occurs in coastal waters on continental and insular shelves. Its maximum size is 165 cm total length (TL) (Weigmann 2016). Females are mature by at least 131 cm TL and demonstrate placental viviparity with litters of 4-6 embryos. In the northwestern Gulf, there is evidence that parturition occurs in spring when embryos are 35-51 cm TL. Further records of the Smoothtooth Blacktip Shark from the western Arabian Sea indicate that adults are present in this region throughout the year.No ageing data are available for the Smoothtooth Blacktip Shark. Generation length is estimated to be 8.25 years based on the Spottail Shark from Australia, which has a similar maximum size. The Spottail Shark matures at 2-3 years and reaches a maximum age of 14 years (Davenport and Stevens 1988).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Endangered
Assessment status abreviation
EN
Assessment status criteria
A2cd
Assessment rationale/justification
The Smoothtooth Blacktip Shark occurs throughout UAE inshore waters and is endemic to the Arabian Sea region. Little specific data are available for this species in the UAE. On the global-level, a limited number of specimens have been reported, in part due to probable confusion with other very similar and more common Carcharhinus species. Although there are limited data on its status, other Carcharhinus species in the Arabian Gulf have undergone significant declines due to exploitation. It has a relatively low reproductive capacity, which causes it to be susceptible to over-exploitation. 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 many largely unregulated gill net, longline and trawl 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. Based on recorded levels of exploitation and decline in habitat quality, it is suspected to have declined by 50-80% over the past three generation lengths, or about 25 years. It is listed as Endangered 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
No
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: No
Endemism specifics: Endemic to the Arabian Sea region
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). One of the known centres of abundance around Kuwait is also subject to habitat degradation (Moore et al. 2013) and the species was recently found to harbor high levels of mercury there (Moore et al. 2015).
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

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