Taxon name
Plectorhinchus sordidus
(Klunzinger, 1870)
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Plectorhinchus sordidus
(Klunzinger, 1870)
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Fishes
Species authority
(Klunzinger, 1870)
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 demersal, reef-associated species occurs throughout UAE waters and can be common. Fishing activity is not known to be causing population declines at this time. 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 Western Indian Ocean (Randall 1995, Carpenter et al. 1997a, Fricke et al. 2009, Psomadakis et al. 2015, Fricke et al. 2018). Its depth range is 2-25 m.
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This speciesinhabits inshore and offshore rocky and coral reefs, as well as seagrass beds (McKay 1984, Gell and Whittington 2002). Its maximum total length is 30 cm (Psomadakis et al. 2015). This species has been observed on breakwaters and natural reefs in Dubai, with an apparent preference for natural reef (Burt et al. 2009, 2013). In Abu Dhabi, the maximum age is 14 years, and the mean age and size at sexual maturity was 1.8 years and 24.8 cm for males and 2.1 years and 26 cm for females (Grandcourt et al. 2011). When applying an age at first reproduction of 2 years and longevity of 14 years, its estimated generation length is 8 years based on the following equation recommended by the IUCN Red List methods: Age at first reproduction + (Age at last reproduction -“ age at first reproduction)/2.
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
Fishing is not expected to be driving population declines 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.
