Taxon name
Acanthopagrus arabicus
Iwatsuki, 2013
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Acanthopagrus arabicus
Iwatsuki, 2013
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Vertebrates
Fishes
Species authority
Iwatsuki, 2013
Taxonomic notes and synonyms listed
Acanthopagrus latus was recently split in to five cryptic species: A. latus (distributed in east Asia), A. longispinnis (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes 1830) (northern Gulf of Bengal Bay), and three new species, A. morrisoni, A. arabicus, and A. sheim. The five species can be distinguished from one another by the counts of dorsal-fin rays, pore lateral-line scales, scale rows between the fifth dorsal-fin spine base and lateral line, and other distinguishing morphological characteristics and body and fin coloration (Iwatsuki 2013).
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 coastal species occurs throughout UAE waters. It is targeted by commercial fisheries throughout the Arabian Gulf, and is lumped with catch of Acanthopagrus sheim. Catch in Abu Dhabi declined by about 70% over the past decade with fishing effort at stable levels or increasing over time. However, stock assessments conducted in 2010 and 2018 consider it underexploited. Due to this conflicting information, the lack of life history data to estimate generation length and potential major threat from overfishing, it is listed as Data Deficient in the UAE. 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 southern Oman to the Arabian Gulf to Qatar and Kuwait, and presumably from Iran and Pakistan to southwestern India (Iwatsuki 2013). Its depth range is 0-50 m.
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This species schools in more shallow waters than Acanthopagrus sheim, usually less than 50 m depth (Y. Iwatsuki pers. comm. 2013). It occurs in estuaries and lower reaches of rivers as well as other nearshore coastal habitats (Esmaeili et al. 2014). Its diet consists mainly of echinoderms, worms, crustaceans, and mollusks. Typically, this species does not grow larger than 35 cm total length (Y. Iwatsuki pers. comm. 2013). It conducts seasonal migrations in coastal waters (Doustdar et al. 2019).
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
Overfishing is a potential major threat. 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.
