COP15 Montreal: Abalone, dugong, pillar coral threatened with extinction

Subject : Environment

Context-

A list of threatened species released at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal, Canada has been released.

Global figures for the 2022-2 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:

TOTAL SPECIES ASSESSED = 150,388
(Total threatened species = 42,108)
Extinct = 902
Extinct in the Wild = 84
Critically Endangered = 9,251
Endangered = 16,364
Vulnerable = 16,493
Near Threatened = 8,816
Lower Risk/conservation dependent = 152 (this is an old category that is gradually being phased out of The IUCN Red List)
Least Concern = 77,491
Data Deficient = 20,835

Major species included in the list are-

Abalone shellfish-

Abalone is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae.
Other common names are ear shells, sea ears, and, rarely, muttonfish or muttonshells in parts of Australia, ormer in the UK, perlemoen in South Africa, and paua in New Zealand. Abalones are marine snails.
The flesh of abalones is widely considered to be a desirable food and is consumed raw or cooked by a variety of cultures.

Threat to abalone species-

As many as 44 per cent of all abalone shellfish species are now threatened with extinction.
Abalone species are among the world’s most expensive seafood and are considered a culinary delicacy.
Unsustainable extraction and poaching along with climate change, disease and pollution have put twenty of the world’s 54 abalone species at risk of extinction.

Some important abalone species facing threats of extinction are-

Roe’s abalones in Western Australia (99% were killed during the 2011 marine heatwave off the Australian coast).
Critically Endangered black abalone in California and Mexico
Vulnerable green ormer, ranging from the English Channel to northwest Africa

Major threats to abalones are-

Dugongs-

Dugong (Dugong dugon) also called ‘Sea Cow’ is one of the four surviving species in the Order Sirenia and it is the only existing species of herbivorous mammal that lives exclusively in the sea including in India.
Dugongs are an important part of the marine ecosystem and their depletion will have effects all the way up the food chain.
Distribution and Habitat: They are found in over 30 countries and in India are seen in the Gulf of Manner, Gulf of Kutch, Palk Bay, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
IUCN Red List status: Vulnerable
Dugong populations in east Africa and New Caledonia have entered the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered and Endangered respectively; the species remains Vulnerable
Wild (Life) Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I
CITES: Appendix I

Threats to Dugong include-

Piller corals-

Pillar coral is a hard coral (order Scleractinia) found in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
It is the only species in the monotypic genus Dendrogyra.
It is a digitate coral -that is, it resembles fingers (Latin digites) or a cluster of cigars, growing up from the sea floor without any secondary branching.
It is large and can grow on both flat and sloping surfaces at depths down to 20 m (65 ft).
It is one of the few types of hard coral in which the polyps can commonly be seen feeding during the day.
Found throughout the Caribbean from the Yucatan Peninsula and Florida to Trinidad and Tobago, have moved from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Its population shrunk by over 80 per cent across most of its range since 1990.
Threat- They are affected by the contagious Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease and can affect anywhere between 90 and 100 metres of reef per day.