Taxon name
Sardinella albella
(Valenciennes, 1847)
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Sardinella albella
(Valenciennes, 1847)
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Fishes
Species authority
(Valenciennes, 1847)
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
Least Concern
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
This inshore, pelagic speciesoccurs throughout UAE waters. Fishing activity is not expected to be causing population declines approaching a Near Threatened or threatened level at this time. Although, catch is apparently declining slightly in recent years on the eastern coast, and this requires further investigation. There are no known major threats; therefore, it is listed as Least Concern in the UAE.
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
This species occurs throughout UAE waters. Globally, it is widespread in the Indo-West Pacific (Whitehead 1985, Paxton et al. 1989, Russell and Houston 1989).According to Stern et al. (2016), no true Sardinella albella occur east of the Bay of Bengal, and those records there may represent misidentifications of S. fimbriata. This species has an estimated depth range of 0 to 50 m.
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This reef-associated, pelagic species occurs in tropical waters to a depth of 50 m. It also occurs in estuaries and mangroves (Robertson and Duke 1990). It is a schooling species considered to be an epi-pelagic planktivore (Freije and Awadh 2008). This is a short-lived species with a maximum known longevity of less than two years (Holt 1960, Sekharan 1968). It is thought to reach maturity at approximately 10 cm standard length. Its maximum standard length is 14 cm (Whitehead 1985).
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
Fishing activity is not known 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).
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.
