Taxon name
Lethrinus borbonicus
Valenciennes, 1830
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Lethrinus borbonicus
Valenciennes, 1830
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Fishes
Species authority
Valenciennes, 1830
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
Data deficient
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
This inshore, reef-associated species occurs throughout UAE waters, and can be common in the Arabian Gulf. A 2010 stock assessment considered the Abu Dhabi stock to be overexploited, and in 2016, the stock was considered fully exploited. Catch in Abu Dhabi has declined by 81% over the past two generation lengths, or about 10-12 years. Fishing effort has declined in Abu Dhabi due to fisheries management to reduce the gargoor fishery since 2007, but catch declines are not fully explained by this. The status of population(s) outside the UAE are not well-understood. Based on the uncertainty regarding the population trend of this exploited species, it is listed as Data Deficient in UAE waters. Improvements in fisheries monitoring are needed.
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 restricted to the Western Indian Ocean where it occurs from South Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarenes and the Seychelles to the Red Sea, Arabian Gulf and Pakistan (Carpenter 1989, Carpenter and Allen 1989, Gaudian et al. 1995, Gillibrand 2007, K.E. Carpenter pers. comm. 2014). Its depth range is 1 to 40 m (Carpenter 1989).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This marine species inhabits the sandy bottoms of seagrass beds and on or near coral reefs at depths of 1 to 40 m (Carpenter 1989, Khalaf et al. 2012). During the day, it is found to a depth of 40 m, occasionally occurring in small groups; however, at night, itis solitary and found over reef-flats and slopes as shallow as 1 m in depth. Itsdiet consists of echinoderms, mollusks and crustaceans. The maximum total length is 40 cm (Carpenter and Allen 1989). A study conducted in the southern Arabian Gulf, reported a maximum age of 9 years, spawning occurs from March to June, it is a short-lived, fast growing species with a high natural mortality rate, and the mean age and size at sexual maturity was 2 years and 22.1 cm for males and 1.3 years and 21.3 cm<sub> </sub>for females (Grandcourt et al. 2010). When applying an age at first reproduction of 2 years and longevity of 9 years, its estimated generation length is 5.5 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
Overfishing is a major threat to this species in the Arabian Gulf (Grandcourt et al. 2010). According to a study conducted in the Red Sea, this species can retain relatively high levels of PAHs (Ali et al. 2014). 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.
