Taxon name
Gnathanodon speciosus
(Forsskål, 1775)
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Gnathanodon speciosus
(Forsskål, 1775)
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Fishes
Species authority
(Forsskål, 1775)
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 pelagic, inshore species occurs throughout UAE waters, and is targeted by recreational fishers as well as the commercial trap fishery and retained as bycatch in gill net fisheries. Its presence in UAE fish markets has noticeably declined over time. The Abu Dhabi stock was first reported as overfished in 2004, and a subsequent stock assessment in 2014 concluded it had collapsed. According to an analysis of its stock status in 2018, the resource was considered sustainably exploited. Catch in Abu Dhabi declined by 85% from 2014-2018, but the cause of this decline is poorly understood due in part to the lack of data on effort. The status of population(s) outside the UAE is not well-understood, though it is also targeted by fisheries elsewhere, and was considered fully exploited off Qatar as of 2011. Based on the uncertainty regarding the population trend of this exploited species, it is listed as Data Deficient in UAE waters until updated data become available. 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 widespread in the Indo-West Pacific (Smith-Vaniz 1984, 1995, R. Myers pers. comm. 2016). The depth range is 1 to 162 m (Mundy 2005).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This pelagic species occurs inshore and over rocky reefs, deep lagoons and seaward reefs (Smith-Vaniz 1984, Mundy 2005). Juveniles often occurs in estuaries (Mundy 2005). Both juveniles and adult are occasionally seen over sandy areas where they root for crustaceans, molluscs and small fish (Carpenter et al. 1997b). Small juveniles may live among the tentacles of jellyfish (Lieske and Myers 1994). The mean total length at first maturity for females in the Gulf is 32.5 cm. This speciesspawns during April and May (Grandcourt et al. 2004). Spawning occurs during the Spring season in UAE waters and the mean fork length at first maturity is about 34.5 cm with an age at first maturity of 1.43 years and an estimated longevity of 11 years (Farrag et al. 2019). When applying an age at first reproduction of 1.43 years and longevity of 11 years, its estimated generation length is 6.2 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. The maximum total length is 120 cm (Randall 1995).
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
Overexploitation is a potential major threat to this species in the UAE. 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.
