Predicting IUCN Extinction Risk Categories for the World's Data Deficient Groupers (Teleostei: Epinephelidae)

Groupers are highly susceptible to human‐induced impacts, making them one of the most threatened fish families globally. Extinction risk assessments are important in endangered threatened species management, however the most comprehensive—the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List—cannot classify approximately one‐third of grouper species due to data deficiency. We used an ordinal analytical approach to model relationships between species‐level traits and extinction risk categories. We found that larger species and those with shallower maximum depths and smaller geographic ranges had higher extinction risk. Using our best fitting model, we classified data deficient grouper species into IUCN's extinction risk categories based on traits. Most of these species were predicted to be of least concern. However, 12% were predicted to be endangered or vulnerable, suggesting that they may be of conservation interest. Importantly, we provide a quantitative method for overcoming data gaps that can be applied to conservation of other species.

• Publication year

  2016

• Venue

  Conservation Letters

• Publication date

  2016-09-01

• Fields of study

  Biology, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1111/conl.12230
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Reef Fish Spawning Aggregations Biology Research And Management

  2016cited by this paper
• Predicting the conservation status of data‐deficient species

  2015influential reference
• Extinction risk in reef fishes

  2015cited by this paper
• Global patterns of extinction risk in marine and non-marine systems.

  2015cited by this paper
• Depletion of marine megafauna and shifting baselines among artisanal fishers in eastern Brazil

  2015cited by this paper
• Towards a general framework for predicting threat status of data-deficient species from phylogenetic, spatial and environmental information

  2015cited by this paper
• Cost‐effective assessment of extinction risk with limited information

  2015influential reference
• Amphibians over the edge: silent extinction risk of Data Deficient species

  2014cited by this paper
• Depth Refuge and the Impacts of SCUBA Spearfishing on Coral Reef Fishes

  2014influential reference
• R: A language and environment for statistical computing.

  2014cited by this paper
• Knowledge behind conservation status decisions: Data basis for “Data Deficient” Brazilian plant species

  2014cited by this paper
• Fishing groupers towards extinction: a global assessment of threats and extinction risks in a billion dollar fishery

  2013influential reference
• The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: an assessment of coral reef fishes in the US Pacific Islands

  2013cited by this paper
• Call to protect all coral reefs

  2013cited by this paper
• Biological attributes and major threats as predictors of the vulnerability of species: a case study with Brazilian reef fishes

  2013cited by this paper
• Unraveling the conservation status of Data Deficient species

  2013cited by this paper
• Assessing the Performance of Classification Methods

  2012cited by this paper
• Are comparative studies of extinction risk useful for conservation?

  2012cited by this paper
• Field evidence for pervasive indirect effects of fishing on prey foraging behavior.

  2010cited by this paper
• Overcoming the Linnean shortfall: Data deficiency and biological survey priorities

  2010cited by this paper
• Conservation planning and the IUCN Red List

  2008cited by this paper
• A working guide to boosted regression trees.

  2008cited by this paper
• Quantification of Extinction Risk: IUCN's System for Classifying Threatened Species

  2008cited by this paper
• Indirect effects of an exploited predator on recruitment of coral-reef fishes.

  2008cited by this paper
• Addressing Data Deficiency in Classifying Extinction Risk: a Case Study of a Radiation of Bignoniaceae from Madagascar

  2006cited by this paper
• Extinction Risk and Conservation Priorities

  2006cited by this paper
• The value of the IUCN Red List for conservation.

  2006cited by this paper
• Using fishers' anecdotes, naturalists' observations and grey literature to reassess marine species at risk: the case of the Gulf grouper in the Gulf of California, Mexico

  2005cited by this paper
• The comparative method in conservation biology.

  2004cited by this paper
• CHAPTER 17 – Reef Fish Ecology and Grouper Conservation and Management

  2002cited by this paper
• Limits to the use of threatened species lists

  2002cited by this paper
• The Impact of Nassau Grouper Size and Abundance on Scuba Diver Site Selection and MPA Economics

  2002cited by this paper
• The threatened status of restricted‐range coral reef fish species

  2000cited by this paper
• Predicting the Vulnerability of Tropical Reef Fishes to Exploitation with Phylogenies and Life Histories

  1999cited by this paper

• The functional effect of gape size on intraspecific body condition is variable across trophic groups and resource seasonality

  2026cites this paper
• Traits associated with food web structure in lagoon and reef ecosystems

  2025cites this paper
• Priority ranking for the conservation of all European bryophyte species

  2025cites this paper
• Incidental capture and diversity of Elasmobranchii and Teleostei caught by red snapper and lobster fisheries in the Great Amazon Reef System

  2025cites this paper
• Deep evolutionary roots of diet in seagrass bed fishes

  2025cites this paper
• Unlocking the Depths: Use of a Trait‐Based Approach to Reveal the Diversity of Foraging Strategies in a Deep‐Pelagic Fish Community

  2025cites this paper
• Analyzing Recreational Angling and Spearfishing for White Grouper (Epinephelus aeneus) in the North-Eastern Mediterranean Using YouTube Data

  2024cites this paper
• Extinction risk of European bryophytes predicted by bioclimate and traits

  2024cites this paper
• Diving into archival data: The hidden decline of the giant grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus) in Queensland, Australia

  2024cites this paper
• Modelling the probability of meeting IUCN Red List criteria to support reassessments

  2024influential citation
• Mitogenomic Characterization and Phylogenetic Placement of African Hind, Cephalopholis taeniops: Shedding Light on the Evolution of Groupers (Serranidae: Epinephelinae)

  2024cites this paper
• Local Ecological Knowledge as a Conservation Tool for Identifying Threats to the Pacific Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus quinquefasciatus) in Panama

  2024cites this paper
• Assessing exploitation vulnerability risk of marine ornamental reef fish in Sri Lanka: A productivity susceptibility analysis

  2024cites this paper
• Broken expectations: Population decline of a key grouper species within a 30-year-old no-take MPA in the Southwestern Atlantic

  2024cites this paper
• The transcriptional landscape underlying larval development and metamorphosis in the Malabar grouper (Epinephelus malabaricus)

  2024cites this paper
• Factors Influencing Endangered Marine Species in the Mediterranean Sea: An Analysis Based on IUCN Red List Criteria Using Statistical and Soft Computing Methodologies

  2024cites this paper
• Improved chromosomal-level genome assembly and re-annotation of leopard coral grouper

  2023cites this paper
• Shifts in the size and distribution of marine trophy fishing world records

  2023cites this paper
• Diversity, distribution and intrinsic extinction vulnerability of exploited marine bivalves

  2023cites this paper
• Threatened fish species in the Northeast Atlantic are functionally rare

  2023cites this paper
• Assessing the conservation status of Chinese freshwater fish using deep learning

  2023cites this paper
• Modelling the probability of meeting IUCN Red List criteria to support reassessments

  2023influential citation
• Mechanisms of sex differentiation and sex reversal in hermaphrodite fish as revealed by the Epinephelus coioides genome

  2023cites this paper
• Bridging the research-implementation gap in IUCN Red List assessments.

  2022cites this paper
• More than half of data deficient species predicted to be threatened by extinction

  2022cites this paper
• Residents and Professionals’ Perspectives on Energy and Water Consumption While Transiting from Conventional to Sustainable Housings in South Africa

  2022cites this paper
• Comparative Analysis of Four Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Epinephelidae (Perciformes)

  2022cites this paper
• Biodiversity of commercially important groupers (Epinephelidae) in Aceh, Indonesia: A checklist

  2022cites this paper
• A Bayesian framework for assessing extinction risk based on ordinal categories of population condition and projected landscape change

  2021cites this paper
• Fish and spearfisher traits contributing to catch composition

  2021cites this paper
• Restoration of Riverine Health

  2021cites this paper
• Morphological traits of reef corals predict extinction risk but not conservation status

  2021cites this paper
• Overfishing drives over one-third of all sharks and rays toward a global extinction crisis.

  2021cites this paper
• Best‐practice fisheries management associated with reduced stocks and changes in life histories

  2021cites this paper
• Updating the correlates of alien mammal invasion intensity in South Africa: The basal metabolic rate matters

  2020cites this paper
• Ichthyofauna from Santos-São Vincente upper estuary: a study before and during fire at Santos port terminal

  2020cites this paper
• Evaluating data-limited fisheries for grouper (Serranidae) and snapper (Lutjanidae) in the Coral Triangle, eastern Indonesia

  2020cites this paper
• Analyzing publicly available videos about recreational fishing reveals key ecological and social insights: A case study about groupers in the Mediterranean Sea.

  2020cites this paper
• Eliminating the dark matter of data deficiency by predicting the conservation status of Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea sharks and rays

  2020cites this paper
• Global footprint of mislabelled seafood on a small island nation

  2020cites this paper
• Incongruence between life-history traits and conservation status in reef corals

  2020cites this paper
• Growth and longevity of Hawaiian grouper (Hyporthodus quernus) — input for management and conservation of a large, slow-growing grouper

  2019cites this paper
• Trait‐based ecology of fishes: A quantitative assessment of literature trends and knowledge gaps using topic modelling

  2019cites this paper
• Deep reef fishes in the world’s epicenter of marine biodiversity

  2019cites this paper
• Predicting the conservation status of Europe’s Data Deficient sharks and rays

  2019cites this paper
• Assessing the sustainability of lepidophagous catfish, Pachypterus khavalchor (Kulkarni, 1952), from a tropical river Panchaganga, Maharashtra, India

  2019cites this paper
• Species characteristics affect local extinctions.

  2019cites this paper
• Global raptor research and conservation priorities: Tropical raptors fall prey to knowledge gaps

  2019cites this paper
• A review of the biology, ecology, behavior and conservation status of the dusky grouper, Epinephelus marginatus (Lowe 1834)

  2018cites this paper
• A systematic review of the relation between species traits and extinction risk

  2018cites this paper
• Biologically representative and well‐connected marine reserves enhance biodiversity persistence in conservation planning

  2018cites this paper
• Climatic effects on bud break and frost tolerance in the northernmost populations of Beech (Fagus sylvatica) in Europe

  2018cites this paper
• Incorporating local harvester knowledge to assess vulnerability in the aquarium trade

  2018cites this paper
• Human consumption and popular knowledge on the conservation status of groupers and sharks caught by small-scale fisheries on Abrolhos Bank, SW Atlantic

  2018cites this paper
• Integrating fishing and conservation in a risk framework: A stochastic population model to guide the proactive management of a threatened freshwater crayfish

  2018cites this paper
• Global priority areas for amphibian research

  2018cites this paper
• Dose-Response Modelling of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) in Humans

  2018cites this paper
• Biodiversity defrosted: unveiling non-compliant fish trade in ethnic food stores

  2018cites this paper
• Science responses to IUCN Red Listing

  2017cites this paper
• Variation génétique et persistance des populations en milieu marin : implications pour la conservation

  2017cites this paper
• Factors driving the global decline of cycad diversity

  2017cites this paper
• Using coarse‐scale species distribution data to predict extinction risk in plants

  2017cites this paper
• Trait‐based prediction of extinction risk of small‐bodied freshwater fishes

  2017cites this paper
• Fish conservation in freshwater and marine realms: status, threats and management

  2016cites this paper
• Key predictors of extinction risk in sea breams and porgies (Family: Sparidae)

  2016cites this paper
• 保全科学における情報のギャップと３つのアプローチ (Information gaps in conservation science and three potential approaches)

  2016cites this paper
• Integrating data‐deficient species in analyses of evolutionary history loss

  2016cites this paper
• Potentially threatened: a Data Deficient flag for conservation management

  2016cites this paper
• Overcoming data deficiency in reptiles

  2016cites this paper