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

Taxa
Echinorhinus brucus | (Bonnaterre, 1788)
Publication
UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes
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
Taxonomic Notes
Genetics studies have led some researchers to suspect that there may be an undescribed species of Echinorhinus off Oman and elsewhere in the Arabian Sea region (Henderson et al. 2016).
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
The Bramble Shark occurs in UAE waters on the Sea of Oman coast. It is excluded from the Arabian Gulf (Javadzadeh et al. 2010, Jabado et al. 2014). Globally, it is widespread but patchy in the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic Oceans (al Sakaff and Esseen 1999, Henderson et al. 2007, Javadzadeh et al. 2010, Ebert et al. 2013, K.V. Akhilesh pers. obs.).
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Terrestrial system
No
Freshwater system
No
Marine system
Yes
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
The Bramble Shark is a deepsea species that occurs primarily on continental and insular slopes at depths of 200-900 m, although it has been found as shallow as 18 m (usually in colder water) and as deep as 1,214 m (Kabasakal 2005, Ebert and Stehmann 2013). Examination of landings from Kochi Fisheries Harbour, Kerala, India, recorded a maximum size of 318 cm total length (TL); female maturity (L<sub>50</sub>) at 189 cm TL; male maturity at 187 cm TL; size at birth 42-46 cm TL (Akhilesh et al. 2013). Reproduction is viviparous with litter sizes of 10-36 pups (Akhilesh et al. 2013). Age data are not available for the species, but generation length is estimated as 30 years following Ferretti and Buscher (2015, 2016).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Vulnerable
Assessment status abreviation
VU
Assessment status criteria
A2d
Assessment rationale/justification
In UAE waters, the Bramble Shark, a large deepsea species, occurs only in the Sea of Oman. There are no fisheries that take this species in UAE waters due to the lack of deepsea fisheries. It is exploited off southwest India and historically in the Maldives. Its limited biological productivity infers an overall susceptibility to rapid population decline. Though data specifically from the UAE are not available, and it is not known how individuals occupying the UAE are connected with the broader population of the Arabian Seas region, there is no information available to suggest that its population status differs in the UAE as compared to other parts of its range in the region. Given the threats faced by this species in other parts of the Arabian Seas region, and ongoing threats from discarding and habitat loss in the UAE, it is inferred that declines reported in the Arabian Seas are representative of the status in the UAE. Based on recorded levels of exploitation, it is suspected to have declined by at least 30% over the past three generation lengths, or about 90 years. It is listed as Vulnerable A2d.
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. In the Arabian Seas region, the major threat to the Bramble Shark is the rapid expansion of deepsea fisheries off western India, including a targeted gulper shark (Centrophorus spp.) fishery, and a deepsea shrimp trawl fishery which takes the species as bycatch. As marine fish stocks from nearshore waters off India are heavily exploited, it is likely that fisheries will continue to expand into deeper water.
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

Scientific Name Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Echinorhinus brucus Animalia Chordata Chondrichthyes Squaliformes Echinorhinidae Echinorhinus