|Scientific Name:||Goniopora albiconus Veron, 2002|
|Red List Category & Criteria:||Vulnerable A4c ver 3.1|
|Assessor(s):||Sheppard, A., Fenner, D., Edwards, A., Abrar, M. & Ochavillo, D.|
|Reviewer(s):||Livingstone, S., Polidoro, B. & Smith, J. (Global Marine Species Assessment)|
The most important known threat for this species is extensive reduction of coral reef habitat due to a combination of threats. However, this species is also susceptible to harvesting for aquarium trade. Specific population trends are unknown but population reduction can be inferred from estimated habitat loss (Wilkinson 2004). This species is widespread and locally common within its range, has relatively low susceptibility to disease and bleaching, and therefore is likely to be more resilient to habitat loss and reef degradation because of an assumed large effective population size that is highly connected and/or stable with enhanced genetic variability. Therefore, the estimated habitat loss of 33% from reefs already destroyed within its range over three generation lengths (30 years) is the best inference of population reduction since it may survive in coral reefs already at the critical stage of degradation (Wilkinson 2004). This species therefore meets the threshold for Vulnerable under Criterion A4c. It will be important to reassess this species in 10 years time because of predicted threats from climate change and ocean acidification.
|Range Description:||This species is found in Gulf of Aden, southwest Indian Ocean, northern Indian Ocean, and central Indo-Pacific.|
Native:Australia; British Indian Ocean Territory; Djibouti; Eritrea; India; Indonesia; Madagascar; Malaysia; Maldives; Oman; Philippines; Singapore; Somalia; Sri Lanka; Thailand; Yemen
|FAO Marine Fishing Areas:|
Indian Ocean – western; Indian Ocean – eastern; Pacific – northwest; Pacific – western central
|Range Map:||Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.|
|Population:||This species is uncommon.|
There is no species specific population information available for this species. However, there is evidence that overall coral reef habitat has declined, and this is used as a proxy for population decline for this species. This species is more resilient to some of the threats faced by corals and therefore population decline is estimated using the percentage of destroyed reefs only (Wilkinson 2004). We assume that most, if not all, mature individuals will be removed from a destroyed reef and that on average, the number of individuals on reefs are equal across its range and proportional to the percentage of destroyed reefs. Reef losses throughout the species' range have been estimated over three generations, two in the past and one projected into the future.
The age of first maturity of most reef building corals is typically three to eight years (Wallace 1999) and therefore we assume that average age of mature individuals is greater than eight years. Furthermore, based on average sizes and growth rates, we assume that average generation length is 10 years, unless otherwise stated. Total longevity is not known, but likely to be more than ten years. Therefore any population decline rates for the Red List assessment are measured over at least 30 years. See the supplementary material for further details on population decline and generation length estimates.
|Current Population Trend:||Unknown|
|Habitat and Ecology:||This species is found in shallow reef environments, generally to a depth of 30 m.|
Goniopora is in the top five genera in the aquarium trade (Wabnitz et al. 2003). Although disease risk is likely to be low for species of this genus (Aeby pers. comm.), Goniopora species are moderately susceptible to bleaching in the western Indian Ocean (McClanahan et al. 2007), and exhibit low susceptibility in the Great Barrier Reef (Marshall and Baird 2000).
In general, the major threat to corals is global climate change, in particular, temperature extremes leading to bleaching and increased susceptibility to disease, increased severity of ENSO events and storms, and ocean acidification. In addition to global climate change, corals are threatened by a number of localized threats. Localized threats to corals include fisheries, human development (industry, settlement, tourism, and transportation), changes in native species dynamics (competitors, predators, pathogens and parasites), invasive species (competitors, predators, pathogens and parasites), dynamite fishing, chemical fishing, pollution from agriculture and industry, domestic pollution, sedimentation, and human recreation and tourism activities. The severity of these combined threats to the global population of each individual species is not known.
All corals are listed on CITES Appendix II. Parts of this species distribution fall within several Marine Protected Areas within its range.
Recommended measures for conserving this species include research in taxonomy, population, abundance and trends, ecology and habitat status, threats and resilience to threats, restoration action; identification, establishment and management of new protected areas; expansion of protected areas; recovery management; and disease, pathogen and parasite management. Artificial propagation and techniques such as cryo-preservation of gametes may become important for conserving coral biodiversity.
Having timely access to national-level trade data for CITES analysis reports would be valuable for monitoring trends this species. The species is targeted by collectors for the aquarium trade and fisheries management is required for the species, e.g., Marine Protected Areas, quotas, size limits, etc. Consideration of the suitability of species for aquaria should also be included as part of fisheries management, and population surveys should be carried out to monitor the effects of harvesting.
|Citation:||Sheppard, A., Fenner, D., Edwards, A., Abrar, M. & Ochavillo, D. 2008. Goniopora albiconus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T133368A3710621.Downloaded on 26 September 2017.|
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