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

Taxa
Epinephelus stoliczkae | (Day, 1875)
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 can be confused with Epinephelus rivulatus, which is superficially similar.
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
This species occurs throughout UAE waters (F. Yaghmour and J. Burt pers. comm. 2019). Globally, it has a tropical to subtropical (~10 to 30'°N) continental distribution from the Red Sea, and the northwest Indian Ocean to Pakistan. It was recently reported from Iraq (Almukhtar et al. 2012). Its depth range is 5-50 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 generally occurs on shallow sandy bottoms near rocks or small coral heads, but is not known from well-developed coral reefs. Its maximum total length is about 38 cm.
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Least Concern
Assessment status abreviation
LC
Assessment rationale/justification
This reef-associated species occurs throughout UAE waters. It is naturally uncommon on the Arabian Gulf coast, but common on the eastern coast. It is regularly taken in grouper fisheries on the eastern coast, and anecdotal information indicates it is declining slightly each year over the past decade in fish markets there. Exploitation is not considered to be driving declines approaching a Near Threatened or threatened level at this time; therefore, it is listed as Least Concern in the UAE. It is recommended to improve fisheries monitoring for this species.
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 not considered to be driving declines approaching a Near Threatened or threatened level in the UAE at this time. 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
Epinephelus stoliczkae Animalia Chordata Actinopterygii Perciformes Epinephelidae Epinephelus