Endangered Coral Reef Fish

Below is an introduction to some of the endangered fish species that rely on coral reef cover, it is important to dedicate a post to this so to highlight the beautiful species that are at risk, illuminating the main concerns of this blog. This list has been adapted from a study that assesses the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species focussing specifically on the US Pacific Islands. It is important to mention that the species listed below are IUCN classified as "endangered", "vulnerable" and/or NOAA "species of concern." Notably, there are many more species that are listed as "near threatened" or "decreasing" in population.


Common Name: Sharptooth Lemon Shark
Family: Carcharhinidae
Species Name: Negaprion acutidens
Range: wide ranging, native to Indian Ocean and western Central Pacific
Justification: Narrow habitat range, heavily overfished
IUCN classification: Vulnerable


Common Name: Threadfin Butterflyfish
Family: Chaetodontidae
Species Name: Chaetodon flavocoronatus
Range: endemic to western Pacific
Justification: very limited range
IUCN classification: Vulnerable


Common Name: Tawny Nurse Shark
Family: Ginglymostomatidae
Species Name: Nebrius ferrugineus
Range: Indo-Pacific
Justification: Heavily fished, narrow habitat range
IUCN classification: Vulnerable


Common Name: Humphead Wrasse
Family: Labridae
Species Name: Cheilinus undulatus
Range: Tropical Indo Pacific
Justification: valued economically, heavily overfished, 50% pop decline in past 20 yrs
IUCN classification: Endangered
NOAA specie of concern


Common Name: Manta Ray
Family: Mobidulae
Species Name: Manta alfredi
Range: wide but sparsely distributed and fragmented Pacific, Atalantic, Indian oceans
Justification: used for medicene, low reproductive output, specific resource needs
IUCN classification: Vulnerable


Common Name: Green Humphead Parrotfish
Family: Scaridae
Species Name: Bolbometopon muricatum
Range: wide range
Justification: overfished, extinct in some localities
IUCN classification: Vulnerable
NOAA specie of concern


Common Name: Squaretail Coral Grouper
Family: Serranidae
Species Name: Plectropomus areolatus
Range: Indo-Pacific, Red Sea, Southeast Asia
Justification: wide range but heavily fished, declined 30% over last 20 years
IUCN classification: Vulnerable


Common Name: Blacksaddled Coral Grouper
Family: Serranidae
Species Name: Plectropomus laevis
Range: large from East African Coast to central and Southern Pacific
Justification: targetting of juveniles by fishing
IUCN classification: Vulnerable


Common Name: Queensland Grouper
Family: Serranidae
Species Name: Epinephelus lanceolatus
Range: Indo-Pacific, locally rare but widely distributed
Justification: Fished heavily, cultural significance in China, reproductive difficulties
IUCN classification: Vulnerable


Common Name: Scalloped Hammerhead
Family: Sphyrnidae
Species Name: Sphyrna lewini
Range: circumglobal distribution in warm temperate and tropical seas
Justification: fishing
IUCN classification: Endangered


Common Name: Great Hammerhead
Family: Sphyrnidae
Species Name: Sphyrna mokarran
Range: large widely distributed, restricted to continental shelves
Justification: valuable in market so fished both intentionally and accidentally
IUCN classification: Endangered


Common Name: Zebra Shark
Family: Stegostomatidae
Species Name: Stegostoma fasciatum
Range: Indian, West and Central Pacific Oceans
Justification: overfishing
IUCN classification: Vulnerable


Some important points to take from this are:

• sharks make up the most of the endangered coral reef fish species
• there is very little overlap with the ideas shared in the lecture from my previous post
• fishing is the main cause of species endangering, very little reference to natural (climate driven) or biological reassons for population decreases