Rhabdosargus haffara | UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes
Taxa
Rhabdosargus haffara | (Forsskål, 1775)
Location
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
The type locality of this species is in the Red Sea. The Red Sea specimen is significantly genetically different from the Arabian Gulf specimens. Further study is needed to clarify the taxonomic status of this species (Y. Iwatsuki pers. comm. 2013).
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
This species occurs throughout UAE waters. Globally, it has a disjunct distribution, with one subpopulation restricted to the Red Sea, and the other restricted to the southern Arabian Gulf from Bahrain to the United Arab Emirates to the Omani coast along the Sea of Oman (Bauchot and Smith 1984, Randall 1995).
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This species inhabits shallow waters, mainly around coral reefs, as well as on sandy or mud-sandy bottoms (Bauchot and Smith 1984). It primarily consumes molluscs, and to a lesser extent, crustaceans. The maximum total length is 35 cm (Sommer et al. 1996). In the Arabian Gulf, the maximum recorded age of Rhabdosargus sarbais 8 years (El-Agamy 1989). The mean age and size at sexual maturity off Abu Dhabi is 2 years and 23.5 cm for males and 2.1 years and 23.7 cm for females (Grandcourt et al. 2011). When applying an age at first reproduction of 2 years and longevity of 8 years, its estimated generation length is 5 years based on the following equation recommended by the IUCN Red List methods: Age at first reproduction + (Age at last reproduction - age at first reproduction)/2.
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Data deficient
Assessment status abreviation
DD
Assessment rationale/justification
This coastal species occurs throughout UAE waters. It is targeted by commercial fisheries along with its congener Rhabdosargus sarba, and due to similarities in appearance, landings are lumped throughout the Arabian Gulf region. The stock of R. sarba is considered overexploited in Abu Dhabi, and declining landings have also been recorded in other countries within the region. Based on the uncertainty regarding the population trend of this exploited species, it is listed as Data Deficient in UAE waters. Improvements in fisheries management are needed.
About the assessment
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Affliation of assessor(s)/contributors/reviewers listed on assessment
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
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Conservation
Threats listed in assessment
Overfishing is a major threat to this species in the UAE (Grandcourt et al. 2011). 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:
Scientific Name
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Rhabdosargus haffara
Animalia
Chordata
Actinopterygii
Perciformes
Sparidae
Rhabdosargus
