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

Taxa
Megalaspis cordyla | (Linnaeus, 1758)
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
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
This species occurs throughout UAE waters. Globally, it is widespread in the Indo-West Pacific (Smith-Vaniz 1984, Randall 1995, Randall et al. 2003). The depth range is 1 to 100 m (R. Myers pers. comm. 2015).
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Terrestrial system
No
Freshwater system
No
Marine system
Yes
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This pelagic, schooling species occurs in inshore waters (Smith-Vaniz 1984, Randall 1995). Its diet consists primarily of fishes, crustaceans, molluscs and polychaetes (Sreenivasan 1974, Smith-Vaniz 1984) and squids (Randall 1995). The maximum total length is 80 cm (Smith-Vaniz 1984). Spawning season is April to February with a peak from May to August. Both sexes attain maturity between 25 and 27 cm off India (Sivakami 1995). Off Pakistan, it spawns from May to June and November to February (Qamar and Panhwar 2018). Sizes at maturity have also been reported as 22 cm and 26.4 cm for females and males, respectively, (Bal and Rao 1984) and at 21 cm for both sexes (Jadhav and Mohite 2013). The age at 50% maturity for both females and males off Pakistan was estimated as 2.4 years, the size as 26.5-27 cm and a longevity of 4 years (Qamar and Panhwar 2018).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Least Concern
Assessment status abreviation
LC
Assessment rationale/justification
This inshore, pelagic speciesoccurs throughout UAE waters. Fishing activity is not expected to be causing population declines at this time. There are no known major threats; therefore, it is listed as Least Concern in the UAE.
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 + Regional Guidelines v4.0
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
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Conservation
Threats listed in assessment
Fishing activity is not known to be driving declines in the UAE at this time.
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

Scientific Name Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Megalaspis cordyla Animalia Chordata Actinopterygii Perciformes Carangidae Megalaspis