Himantura uarnak | (Gmelin, 1789)
SIS Taxon ID
201098826
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Kingdom
Species
Scientific Name
Himantura uarnak
Is SIS
On
Himantura uarnak | UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes
Publication
Taxa
Himantura uarnak | (Gmelin, 1789)
Taxonomic Group
Vertebrates
Taxonomic Group Level 2
Fishes
Assessed taxon level
Species
Taxonomic Notes
Himantura uarnak was recently split from other Himantura species (Last et al. 2016a). The new distribution no longer includes Australia and Papua New Guinea (Last et al. 2016b). There is some continued taxonomic uncertainty with the Himantura genus and this assessment should be updated if the current distribution changes.
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
The Reticulate Whipray occurs throughout UAE waters. Globally, it is widespread in the Indo-West Pacific (Last et al. 2016).
Asessment status in full
Vulnerable
Assessment status abreviation
VU
Assessment status criteria
A2cd
Assessment year
2019
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Affliation of assessor(s)/contributors/reviewers listed on assessment
Government
IGO
Assessor affiliation specific
Government|IGO
Assessment rationale/justification
The Reticulate Whipray occurs throughout UAE coastal waters. This species is not targeted or valued in markets of the UAE, trawling has been banned there since 1980 and recently conducted surveys indicate it remains common in the area; however, Himantura species are discarded from catches in the UAE and it is unknown how this impacts the species. A large part of the species distribution in the Arabian Sea region (namely, India and Pakistan) is under extremely intense and increasing demersal fishing pressure. In contrast, Himantura species are regularly discarded in the Arabian Gulf and Sea of Oman, and they remain common there. Though data specifically from the UAE are not available, individuals in the UAE are a component of a larger, interconnected and migratory population that occurs broadly in the north-western Indian Ocean. Given the intense fishing pressures faced by this species in other parts of the broader Arabian Seas region, and ongoing threats from discard and habitat loss in the UAE, it is inferred that declines reported in the Arabian Seas are representative of the status in the UAE. Based on recorded levels of exploitation and decline in habitat quality, it is suspected to have declined by at least 30% over the past three generation lengths, or about 60 years. It is listed as Vulnerable A2cd.
Criteria system specifics
IUCN v3.1
Criteria system used
IUCN
Criteria Citation
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.
Endemic to region
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Threats listed in assessment
Information pertaining to threats specific to the UAE are unavailable. This species is impacted by bycatch fisheries that are active elsewhere in its range. Marine habitats in the Gulf are experiencing high levels of disturbance and quickly deteriorating due to major impacts from development activities (including dredging and reclamation), desalination plants, industrial activities, habitat destruction through the removal of shallow productive areas and major shipping lanes (Sheppard et al. 2010). 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).
Conservation Measures
Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:
Verified entry
Off