Rhinobatos punctifer | UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes
Taxa
Rhinobatos punctifer | Compagno & Randall, 1987
Publication
Asessment status in full
Near Threatened
Assessment status abreviation
NT
Assessment status criteria
A2cd
Assessment rationale/justification
The Spotted Guitarfish occurs throughout UAE coastal waters. Due to confusion with the Bengal Guitarfish (Rhinobatos annandalei), population data can be uncertain. There has been a total ban on fishing for this species in UAE waters since 2019, but is still taken as bycatch in coastal net fisheries. Declines of several species of inshore guitarfish have been documented elsewhere. Habitat degradation from coastal development is a concern for this species as well. It is especially susceptible to exploitation (target and bycatch) in many largely unregulated gill net and trawl fisheries that operate within its range outside and surrounding UAE waters. Some management measures are now in place in the Arabian Sea region, although domestic fisheries are likely to continue. Though data specifically from the UAE are not available, individuals in the UAE are a component of a larger, interconnected and migratory population that occurs broadly in the north-western Indian Ocean. It is inferred that declines reported in the Arabian Sea region are representative of its status in the UAE. Based on recorded levels of exploitation and decline in habitat quality, it is suspected to have declined by 20-30% over the past three generation lengths, or about 15 years. It is listed as Near Threatened, nearly meeting the thresholds for Vulnerable A2cd.
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 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.
Endemic to region
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Threats listed in assessment
This species has been impacted by target and bycatch fisheries. It may also being impacted by habitat degradation due to coastal development, especially nursery grounds. Marine habitats in the Gulf are experiencing high levels of disturbance and quickly deteriorating due to major impacts from development activities (including dredging and reclamation), desalination plants, industrial activities, habitat destruction through the removal of shallow productive areas and major shipping lanes (Sheppard et al.<em style=""font-size: 12pt; font-family: Georgia;""> 2010).
Conservation Measures
Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:
Scientific Name | Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rhinobatos punctifer | Animalia | Chordata | Chondrichthyes | Rhinopristiformes | Rhinobatidae | Rhinobatos |