Taxon name
Lethrinus lentjan
(Lacepède, 1802)
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Lethrinus lentjan
(Lacepède, 1802)
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Fishes
Species authority
(Lacepède, 1802)
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, marine species occurs throughout UAE waters. Catch declines of about 90% have occurred in Abu Dhabi over the past two generation lengths. Two recent stock assessments reported conflicting results - one assessed the stock as overfished, while the other assessed it as under-exploited. Due to this, the population status is poorly understood. With recent fisheries management measures implemented in Abu Dhabi, it is difficult to say whether fishing effort will continue to increase or decrease within the near future. Considering that other Emirates and surrounding countries that likely share this stock do not have management measures in place to reduce effort in the gargoor fishery, population declines may continue. The status of this species outside the UAE is not well-understood, but it is exploited elsewhere in the Gulf region. Due to the uncertainty regarding its population status, it is listed as Data Deficient 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 (Sato and Walker 1984, Carpenter and Allen 1989, Carpenter 2001). Its depth range is 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 species inhabits coastal, sandy areas, coral reefs, and deep lagoons to depths of 50 m. It primarily consumescrustaceans, molluscs, echinoderms, polychaetes and fishes (Sato and Walker 1984, Carpenter and Allen 1989). This species is a protogynous hermaphrodite and exhibits a protracted spawning season (Currey et al. 2013). In some areas, particularly Thailand, this species has been observed forming spawning aggregations (Tamelander et al. 2008). This is a fast-growing, short-lived species with high natural mortality. A study conducted in the southern Arabian Gulf reported its maximum age as 11 years, spawning occurs from April to June, and mean age and size at sexual maturity was 1.8 years and 24.6 cm for males and 2.4 years and 27.7 cm<sub> </sub>for females (Grandcourt et al. 2011). When applying an age at first reproduction of 2.5 years and longevity of 11 years, its estimated generation length is 6.75 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 potential major threat. Studies on this species in the UAE indicates it retains heavy metals sourced from nearshore pollution (Kosanovic et al. 2007). 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.
