Maculabatis randalli | UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes

Taxa
Maculabatis randalli | (Last, Manjaji-Matsumoto & Moore, 2012)
Publication
UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes
Location
Countries in Assessment
United Arab Emirates
Country ISO code(s)
ARE
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Off
Scope (Assessment)
National
Taxon
Taxonomic Group
Vertebrates
Taxonomic Group Level 2
Fishes
Assessed taxon level
Species
Taxonomic Notes
Last et al. (2016) described the genus Maculabatis to consist of nine medium to large, marine whiprays previously placed in Himantura (including randalli).
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
The Arabian Banded Whipray occurs in UAE waters from the Arabian Gulf coast, and is endemic to the Gulf (Last et al. 2012). Reports from Iran in the northern Sea of Oman (Roohi Aminjan and Malek 2016, Rastgoo et al. 2018) require verification. It may be easily confused with its congener, Maculabatis gerrardi (Last et al. 2016, Ali et al. 2018).
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Terrestrial system
No
Freshwater system
No
Marine system
Yes
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This species occurs in soft bottom habitats, from shallow depths to 60 m. It reaches a maximum size of 62 cm disc width (DW), males are mature at 40 cm DW, and size at birth is 15-17 cm DW (Last et al. 2012, Last et al. 2016).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Least Concern
Assessment status abreviation
LC
Assessment rationale/justification
This species is currently deemed to be endemic to the Arabian Gulf, and in the UAE, occurs on the Gulf coast. 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 relatively common in the area. It is common in shallow waters throughout the Gulf. It is likely discarded as bycatch in trawl and gill net fisheries. Declines approaching a Near Threatened or threatened level are not suspected at this time; therefore, it is listed as Least Concern. The loss and modification of coastal habitats in the UAE area may represent a significant concern, and this requires further study.
About the assessment
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
Criteria system
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.
Endemism
Endemic to region
No
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: No
Endemism specifics: Endemic to the Arabian Gulf
Conservation
Threats listed in assessment
The main threat to this species is incidental capture in trawl and gillnet fisheries. 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).
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

Scientific Name Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Maculabatis randalli Animalia Chordata Chondrichthyes Myliobatiformes Dasyatidae Maculabatis