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

Taxa
Epinephelus epistictus | (Temminck & Schlegel, 1842)
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
This species is sometimes misidentified as Epinephelus magniscuttis or Epinephelus heniochus.
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
In UAE waters, this species occurs only in the Sea of Oman. Its occurrence in the Arabian Gulf apparently excludes the southern portion from Qatar to the UAE. Globally, it is somewhat patchily distributed in the Indo-West Pacific from South Africa, Mozambique, the Red Sea, the Arabian Gulf, India, Indonesia, the South China Sea, southern Japan, Papua New Guinea and the Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia. It is not present in the Philippines (Y. Sadovy pers. comm. 2017). Its depth range is 71-291 metres.
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 deeper waters on rocky reef, and sometimes sandy bottom (Heemstra and Randall 1993, McIlwain et al. 2011). Its maximum total length is 80 cm and may be a protogynous hermaphrodite (Heemstra and Randall 1993).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Data deficient
Assessment status abreviation
DD
Assessment rationale/justification
In the UAE, this relatively deep-living, reef-associated species occurs only in the Sea of Oman. It is heavily exploited in grouper fisheries that operate along the UAE eastern coast and neighboring areas of Oman, and these are considered to be part of the same population. Anecdotal information indicates that catch of this species has declined by 50% since about 2000, but quantified data are not available. Life history data are also not available, which prevents an estimate of generation length at this time. Due to the lack of information and major threat from overexploitation, it is listed as Data Deficient in the UAE. In addition to improvements in fisheries monitoring, research is also needed on its life history.
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.
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

Scientific Name Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Epinephelus epistictus Animalia Chordata Actinopterygii Perciformes Epinephelidae Epinephelus