Mobula kuhlii | UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes
Taxa
Mobula kuhlii | (Müller & Henle, 1841)
Publication
Asessment status in full
Near Threatened
Assessment status abreviation
NT
Assessment status criteria
A2d
Assessment rationale/justification
The Shortfin Devil Ray occurs throughout UAE waters and may be locally common there. This species is not targeted or valued in markets of the UAE and capture of this species is totally banned there. When captured in the Arabian Gulf and Sea of Oman, it is typically discarded alive, and significant declines are not suspected there at this time. It is a component of the bycatch in several fisheries (e.g., Pakistan), and is directly targeted in Sri Lanka and India. Its low productivity causes it to be susceptible to rapid population declines, and severe declines have recently been confirmed from Pakistan (over the past three years). It is especially susceptible to exploitation (target and bycatch) in many largely unregulated gill net, longline and trawl fisheries that operate within its range outside and surrounding UAE waters. Some management measures are now in place in the Arabian Sea region, although domestic fisheries are likely to continue. 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. It is inferred that declines reported in the Arabian Sea region are representative of its status in the UAE. Based on recorded levels of exploitation, it is suspected to have declined by 20-30% over the past three generation lengths, or about 23 years. It is listed as Near Threatened, nearly meeting the thresholds for Vulnerable A2d.
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 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 is unavailable. This species is impacted by target (for fins and their valuable meat) and bycatch fisheries that are active elsewhere in its range. Manta rays are easy to target because of their large size, slow swimming speed, aggregation behaviour and predictable habitat use.
Conservation Measures
Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:
Scientific Name | Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mobula kuhlii | Animalia | Chordata | Chondrichthyes | Myliobatiformes | Mobulidae | Mobula |