Zgliczynski, B. J., Williams, I. D., Schroeder, R. E., Nadon, M. O., Richards, B. L., Sandin, S. A.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: An assessment of coral reef fishes in the US Pacific Islands

2013

Coral Reefs

32

3

637-650

"Widespread declines among many coral reef fisheries have led scientists and managers to become increasingly concerned over the extinction risk facing some species. To aid in assessing the extinction risks facing coral reef fishes, large-scale censuses of the abundance and distribution of individual species are critically important. We use fisheries-independent data collected as part of the NOAA Pacific Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program from 2000 to 2009 to describe the range and density across the US Pacific of coral reef fishes included on The International Union for the Conservation of Natures (IUCN) 2011 Red List of Threatened Species. Forty-five species, including sharks, rays, groupers, humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus), and bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum), included on the IUCN List, were recorded in the US Pacific Islands. Most species were generally rare in the US Pacific with the exception of a few species, principally small groupers and reef sharks. The greatest diversity and densities of IUCN-listed fishes were recorded at remote and uninhabited islands of the Pacific Remote Island Areas; in general, lower densities were observed at reefs of inhabited islands. Our findings complement IUCN assessment efforts, emphasize the efficacy of large-scale assessment and monitoring efforts in providing quantitative data on reef fish assemblages, and highlight the importance of protecting populations at remote and uninhabited islands where some species included on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species can be observed in abundance. The online version of this article contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users."

IUCN; Coral reef fishes; NOAA Species of Concern; Humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus); Bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum); Grouper (Serranidae); National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP); Biological monitoring

10.1007/s00338-013-1018-0

FY2010 CRCP Project ID 1976; Project Title: F131 Analysis of Possible Overfishing and Fishing Impacts on Reefs of the US Pacific Islands; Principal Investigator: Ivor Williams; and FY2013 CRCP Project ID 743; Project Title: National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP) Implementation; Principal Investigator: Jessica Morgan