The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™
ISSN 2307-8235 (online)
IUCN 2008: T44672A10934127
Dermatolepis striolata, Smooth Grouper
Assessment by: Cornish, A. (Grouper & Wrasse Specialist Group)
View on www.iucnredlist.org
Citation: Cornish, A. (Grouper & Wrasse Specialist Group). 2004. Dermatolepis striolata. The IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T44672A10934127.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T44672A10934127.en
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THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™
Taxonomy
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Animalia
Chordata
Actinopterygii
Perciformes
Epinephelidae
Taxon Name: Dermatolepis striolata (Playfair, 1867)
Synonym(s):
• Dermatolepis striolata (Playfair, 1867)
Common Name(s):
• English:
• French:
• Spanish:
Smooth Grouper
Merou Lisse
Merou Lisa
Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria:
Data Deficient ver 3.1
Year Published:
2004
Date Assessed:
April 30, 2004
Annotations:
Needs Updating
Justification:
Although a large grouper, and, therefore, probably a protogynous hermaphrodite (sex-changing from
female to male at large size) and susceptible to fishing pressure, information is extremely scarce on this
species. Probably as a result of its rarity and consequent low importance to fisheries, basic biology such
as size/age of sexual maturity is not known, and there does not appear to be any fisheries data or
otherwise that could be used to estimate changes in abundance over time. This rarity likely increases its
vulnerability to extinction (Roberts et al. 2000), as groupers in general are targeted and easily caught
(hook and line, traps, spearfishing) almost wherever they exist, and so there is significant cause for
concern for this species. However, at the present time due to the lack of data, Dermatolepis striolata is
assessed as Data Deficient (DD).
Regional Status
D. striolata appears to be rare throughout its range, except for southern Oman where it is common
(Randall 1995).
Oman
D. striolata is moderately common in southern Oman (basically everywhere I have been in the water on
rocky sites there: J. Kemp pers. comm. 2004).
D.striolata appears from time to time in the Salalah (largest city in southern Oman near the Yemen
border) market but not very often. Interviews with fishers in the Halaniyats in 2002 revealed no specific
reference to this species, but they did talk about an overall decline in catch in the past 20 years. This
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Dermatolepis striolata – published in 2004.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T44672A10934127.en
1
decline has been ascribed to a number of different factors including fishermen from northern Oman
(where fish stocks are heavily exploited) migrating to the south to fish, and illegal fishing in shallow
inshore waters by the foreign owned industrial trawlers. Although anecdotal, the reported decline has
been supported by fishermen from Salalah, several of whom where interviewed in December 2003 and
March 2004. The latter interviews were specifically about grouper - which they said had declined
significantly in the past 15 years (J. Mcilwain, pers. comm. 2004).
Fisheries data for Oman are not available although fish landings in general have declined since the peak
in 1988 (Ministry of Information 1995).
Yemen
In 1996, D. striolata was very common at Soqotra and Abd al Kuri Islands (and presumably on the
mainland Somali coast around there although not visited) with large individuals abundant (J. Kemp pers.
comm. 2004).
Kenya
Infrequently trapped at the Malindi Marine Park coastal Kenya (B. Kaunda-Arara, pers. comm. 2002).
South Africa
Not seen and, therefore, believed to be rare (S. Fennessy, pers. comm. 2001).
Mozambique
Does not appear in catches from Mozambique waters although reported to occur there (Lichucha, pers.
comm. 2001).
Geographic Range
Range Description:
Dermatolepis striolata occurs in the western Indian Ocean: Gulf of Oman and south coast of Arabian
Peninsula, Aldabra, Comoros, Madagascar, and the coast of East Africa from Kenya to South Africa
(Durban).
Country Occurrence:
Native: Comoros; Djibouti; Eritrea; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Kenya; Mozambique; Oman; Seychelles
(Aldabra); Somalia; South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal); Tanzania, United Republic of; Yemen
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:
Native: Indian Ocean - western
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Dermatolepis striolata – published in 2004.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T44672A10934127.en
2
Distribution Map
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Dermatolepis striolata – published in 2004.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T44672A10934127.en
3
Population
Current Population Trend: Unknown
Habitat and Ecology (see Appendix for additional information)
Occurs on coral reefs on rocky bottom often lurking in or near caves (Randall 1995).
Reaches a maximum size of 85 cm (Randall 1995). It is not known whether this species forms spawning
aggregations although "Morgans (1982) reports shoaling behaviour in small groups eight or fewer
individuals" (Heemstra and Randall 1993).
Systems: Marine
Threats (see Appendix for additional information)
Overfishing is likely to be the main threat to this species. Although it appears to be too rare to be of
commercial importance and it very rarely appears in Hong Kong markets, imported through the Live
Reef Food Fish Trade (A. Cornish, pers. obs. 2004).
Conservation Actions
Commercial fishing is limited to 15% of the total catch and within Oman's territorial waters; foreign
vessels may not fish without a licence.
Credits
Assessor(s):
Cornish, A. (Grouper & Wrasse Specialist Group)
Reviewer(s):
Sadovy, Y. & Fennessy, S. (Grouper & Wrasse Red List Authority)
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Dermatolepis striolata – published in 2004.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T44672A10934127.en
4
Bibliography
Heemstra, P.C. and Randall, J.E. 1993. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 16. Groupers of the world (Family
Serranidae, Subfamily Epinephelinae). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of the grouper, rockcod,
hind, coral grouper and lyretail species known to date. FAO Fisheries Synopsis. No. 125, Vol. 16. Rome,
FAO.
IUCN. 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 23
November 2004.
Ministry of Information 1995. Adapted from Oman’ 95, Ministry of Information Online report (Accessed:
28 July 2003).
Randall, J.E. 1995. Coastal fishes of Oman. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Roberts, C.M., Hawkins, J.P., Chapman, N., Clarke, V., Morris, A. V., Miller, R. and Richards, A. 2000. A
report to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Species Survival Commission, and Centre for Marine
Conservation, Washington, DC.
Citation
Cornish, A. (Grouper & Wrasse Specialist Group). 2004. Dermatolepis striolata. The IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species 2004: e.T44672A10934127.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T44672A10934127.en
Disclaimer
To make use of this information, please check the Terms of Use.
External Resources
For Images and External Links to Additional Information, please see the Red List website.
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Dermatolepis striolata – published in 2004.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T44672A10934127.en
5
Appendix
Habitats
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)
Habitat
Season
Suitability
Major
Importance?
9. Marine Neritic -> 9.1. Marine Neritic - Pelagic
-
Marginal
-
10. Marine Oceanic -> 10.1. Marine Oceanic - Epipelagic (0-200m)
-
Unknown
-
Threats
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)
Threat
Timing
Scope
Severity
Impact Score
5. Biological resource use -> 5.4. Fishing & harvesting
aquatic resources -> 5.4.1. Intentional use:
(subsistence/small scale)
Ongoing
-
-
-
Stresses:
2. Species Stresses -> 2.1. Species mortality
Ongoing
-
Stresses:
2. Species Stresses -> 2.1. Species mortality
5. Biological resource use -> 5.4. Fishing & harvesting
aquatic resources -> 5.4.2. Intentional use: (large
scale)
-
-
Research Needed
(http://www.iucnredlist.org/technical-documents/classification-schemes)
Research Needed
1. Research -> 1.2. Population size, distribution & trends
1. Research -> 1.3. Life history & ecology
1. Research -> 1.5. Threats
3. Monitoring -> 3.1. Population trends
© The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Dermatolepis striolata – published in 2004.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T44672A10934127.en
6
The IUCN Red List Partnership
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is produced and managed by the IUCN Global Species
Programme, the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and The IUCN Red List Partnership. The IUCN
Red List Partners are: BirdLife International; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; Conservation
International; Microsoft; NatureServe; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza University of Rome; Texas
A&M University; Wildscreen; and Zoological Society of London.
THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™