Taxon name
Pateobatis fai
(Jordan & Seale, 1906)
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Pateobatis fai
(Jordan & Seale, 1906)
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Fishes
Species authority
(Jordan & Seale, 1906)
Taxonomic notes and synonyms listed
Last et al. (2016) described the genus Pateobatis, consisting of five medium-size to very large, marine whiprays previously placed in Himantura (including fai). This species is frequently misidentified as Himantura (=Pateobatis) jenkinsii.
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 Pink Whipray occurs throughout UAE inshore waters, and is is apparently uncommon in the Arabian Gulf and Sea of Oman area. This species is incidentally captured in inshore fisheries and mostly discarded in UAE waters. 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. In India, it is under extremely intense and increasing demersal fishing pressure. 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, but there is no information available to suggest that its population status differs in the UAE, 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 60 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 Pink Whipray occurs throughout UAE waters. Globally, it is widespread in the Indo-West and Central Pacific (Kuiter and Debelius 1994, Anderson and Hafiz 1997, Golani and Bogorodsky 2010).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
The Pink Whipray is found on soft sandy bottoms and coral rubble on the inner continental shelf from the intertidal zone to 70 m depth (Last et al. 2016). The species attains a maximum size of at least 146 cm DW (disc width) with males maturing at around 112 cm disc width (DW) (Last et al. 2016). Size at maturity for females is unknown, but reproduction is viviparous with histotrophy (White et al. 2006). Little else is known of its biology. As there is no information on this species' maximum age and age at maturity, generation length was inferred as ~20 years based on data for Blackspotted Whipray (Maculabatis astra) (Jacobsen and Bennett 2011). However, it is noted that the Blackspotted Whipray grows to a much smaller maximum size (80 cm DW) than the Pink Whipray (146 cm DW).
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).
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.
