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

Taxa
Ellochelon vaigiensis | (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825)
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
The taxonomy of species in the Mugilidae family is complex and under revision (Durand and Borsa 2015).
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
This species occurs throughout UAE waters. Globally, it is widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific (Harrison and Senou 1999).
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Terrestrial system
No
Freshwater system
No
Marine system
Yes
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This species is found in coastal waters in lagoons, marshes, mangroves, estuaries and brackish waters of rivers, as well as reef flats. It spawns at sea and its maximum length is 63 cm (Harrison and Senou 1999, Coad 2017).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Data deficient
Assessment status abreviation
DD
Assessment rationale/justification
This inshore species occurs throughout UAE waters. It is exploited throughout the UAE, but species-specific catch data are not collected. It comprises a smaller proportion of the mullet catch than Crenimugil seheli, but catch in that fishery declined by about 80% over the past 11 years. Fishing effort trends are not well-understood. It is also exploited in areas neighboring the UAE. In addition, the difficulty in distinguishing the mullet species taxonomically and easy confusion with other mullet species in the catch prevents an understanding of their status. Based on the uncertainty in the status of its population in the UAE, and concerns for possible overexploitation, it is listed as Data Deficient. Improvements in fisheries monitoring are needed.
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 + Regional Guidelines v4.0
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
Overfishing is a potential major threat to this species in the UAE and surrounding areas. In addition, estuaries and nearshore habitats have been seriously degraded in the Arabian Gulf region. Corals in the UAE and Arabian Gulf have severely declined due to the increasing frequency of mass bleaching events caused by rising water temperatures, which is a consequence of climate change, as well as pervasive coastal development (Riegl et al. 2018, Burt et al. 2019).
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

Scientific Name Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Ellochelon vaigiensis Animalia Chordata Actinopterygii Mugiliformes Mugilidae Ellochelon