Taxon name
Taeniurops meyeni
(Müller & Henle, 1841)
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Taeniurops meyeni
(Müller & Henle, 1841)
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Fishes
Species authority
(Müller & Henle, 1841)
Location and scope
Specific locality or subnational name or regional name
United Arab Emirates (the)
Scope (of the Assessment)
National
Countries included within the scope of the assessment
United Arab Emirates (the)
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Not_assigned
Conservation Status
Assessed as
Near Threatened
Qualifying criteria (if given)
A2cd
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
The Blotched Fantail Ray occurs throughout UAE inshore waters. This species is incidentally captured in inshore fisheries, and mostly discarded in UAE waters. In India and Pakistan, it is under intense and increasing demersal fishing pressure. This species is not targeted or valued in markets of the UAE, trawling has been banned there since 1980 and recently conducted surveys have detected it in the area. 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 and decline in habitat quality, it is suspected to have declined by 20-30% over the past three generation lengths, or about 64 years. It is listed as Near Threatened, nearly meeting the thresholds for Vulnerable A2cd.
Assessment details
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Criteria system used
IUCN
Reference for methods given
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.
Further information
Endemism (according to assessment)
Endemic to region
Not assigned
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
The Blotched Fantail Ray occurs throughout UAE waters. Globally, it is widespread in the Indo-West Pacific (Last et al. 2016).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
The Blotched Fantail Ray is benthic around coral reef habitats, seamounts and on sand substrates mostly at depths of 20-60 m (although records from depths to 400 m in pelagic longlines near seamounts exist) (Compagno et al. 1989, Last and Compagno 1999, Last et al. 2016). It reaches a maximum size of 180 cm disc width (DW) (Last and Stevens 2009). Males mature at 100-110 cm DW and size at birth is 30-35 cm DW (Last et al. 2016). It is a viviparous species, with reported litter size of up to seven young (Compagno et al. 1989). Age data are not available, but generation length can be estimated using data from another large dasyatid, the Brown Stingray (Dasyatis lata), females of which mature at 15 years and reach 28 years (Dale and Holland 2012), giving an estimated generation length of 21.5 years.
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
Information pertaining to threats specific to the UAE are unavailable. This species is impacted by bycatch fisheries that are active elsewhere in its range. 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. 2010). 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).
Publication
Ralph, G.M., Stump, E., Linardich, C., Bullock, R.W., Carpenter, K.E., Allen D.J., Hilton-Taylor, C., Al Mheiri, R., and Alshamsi, O. 2021. UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes. 2021. Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
