Delphinus delphis | UAE National Red List of Mammals: Marine and Terrestrial
Taxa
Delphinus delphis | Linnaeus, 1758
Asessment status in full
Data deficient
Assessment status abreviation
DD
Assessment rationale/justification
There have been no sightings of live animals in the Arabian Gulf in recent years and no records of any strandings from Abu Dhabi in the past ten years, but there are numerous records of skeletal remains from the area. It is not clear if this means there has been a significant population reduction in the Gulf and over what time period that happened. The only confirmed recent records include multiple sightings of relatively large groups (up to 100 individuals) sighted in both shallower (50 m) and deep water (800 m) off the east coast of Fujairah. The population size and trend are unknown, hence this species is assessed as Data Deficient. No regional adjustment is made to the Data Deficient assessment.
Assessment year
2018
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 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.
URL (link) of redlist assessment or publication
https://www.moccae.gov.ae/assets/download/b352eff1/UNRL%20of%20Mammals%20-%20Report%202019.pdf.aspx?view=true
Endemic to region
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Threats listed in assessment
The main threats to cetaceans in UAE waters include: incidental mortality in trawl, drift and anchored gill nets, depletion of prey populations (due in part to commercial overfishing); ship and boat strikes, disturbance due to underwater noise (including that from vessel traffic, drilling, piling, military operations and seismic activity related to offshore oil and gas exploration). Inshore and shallow-water species are further potentially threatened by entanglement in abandoned fishing gear, coastal development including port and harbour construction, dredging, land reclamation, residential and tourist development, and pollution (especially hydrocarbons). A lack of information (e.g. population size and trend, the location of critical habitats, and feeding ecology) hinders the development of appropriate conservation actions, but this should be used as an excuse for inaction.
Conservation Measures
Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:
History
The backcasted 1996 assessment for this species is Data Deficient which matches the listing given by Hornby (1996) albeit that this was based on a different taxonomic concept.
Scientific Name | Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Delphinus delphis | Animalia | Chordata | Mammalia | Cetartiodactyla | Delphinidae | Delphinus |