SANBI

Rationale

The false Englishman (Chrysoblephus lophus) is endemic to Southern Africa but its range may extend further east in the Indian Ocean. This species is occasionally caught in ski-boat and line-boat catches but is thought to be naturally rare throughout its range. Information about the biology, distribution, and abundance is extremely limited. Chrysoblephus lophus is likely to share life-history characteristics similar to other sparid species which may make this species vulnerable to exploitation; therefore it is recommended that the daily bag limit be reduced to two fish per person per day and that MPAs should be extended seawards to include more of the deep reef habitat that C. lophus prefers. Further study of the biology and population of this C. lophus is needed. This species is listed as Least Concern.

Distribution

Chrysoblephus lophus is endemic along the east coast of Africa from southern Mozambique to East London (King and Fraser 2002) but reports from Mozambique are unsubstantiated (Heemstra and Heemstra 2004). This species is alleged to range more widely in the Indian Ocean (van der Elst 1993) and off India (Rao et al. 2004). This species has a depth range of 20 m to 150 m (Bauchot and Smith 1984, van der Elst 1993, Smith and Smith 2003, Heemstra and Heemstra 2004).

Habitat View more ecological information

Population trend

Trend

Chrysoblephus lophus is a naturally rare species throughout its range (King and Fraser 2002) with little information on trends in abundance (B. Mann pers. obs.). This species does not appear to be abundant anywhere (van der Elst 1993). Underwater visual census assessments have not recorded this species at normal diving depths (less than 30 m) (B. Mann pers comm. 2009).

Threats

Currently, there are no known major threats to this species; however, life-history characteristics of C. lophus are not well known and it is likely that this species shares characteristics of other southern African sparids that makes them vulnerable to exploitation (Maggs and Mann 2013).

Uses and trade

Chrysoblephus lophus is caught on occasion by commercial and recreational ski-boat anglers (Fennessy et al. 2003) fishing on deep rocky reefs but is nowhere abundant (van der Elst 1993).

Conservation

A daily bag limit of 10 fish per person per day as a part of the total daily bag limit for unlisted species is currently implemented for recreational fishers but there is no limit for commercial fishers (Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries 2012). This species has been recorded from the St Lucia and Maputaland MPAs (Chater et al. 1995) and is probably afforded some protection in no-take MPAs along the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape coast (Maggs and Mann 2013).

It is recommended that the daily bag limit be reduced to two fish per person per day for recreational and commercial fishers and that MPAs should be extended seawards to include more of the deeper reef habitat that C. lophus inhabits. A minimum landing size is not recommended because it is unlikely to limit fishing mortality as this species inhabits deeper water and capture would likely result in barotrauma, limiting the survival of released fish (Maggs and Mann 2013).

References

[@techreport{2060,
 address = {Durban},
 author = {Mann, B.Q.},
 institution = {Southern African Association for Marine Biological Research Oceanographic Research Institute},
 title = {Southern African Marine Linefish Species Profiles},
 year = {2013}
}
,@inbook{12137,
 address = {Berlin},
 author = {},
 booktitle = {Sparidae},
 editor = {Smith, J.L.B. and Smith, M.M.},
 pages = {580--594},
 publisher = {Springer-Verlag},
 title = {Smiths' Sea Fishes},
 year = {1986}
}
,@techreport{12137,
 address = {Staatskoerant},
 author = {Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries},
 title = {Marine Living Resources Act, 1998 (Act No. 18 of 1998) and relevant government gazettes and notices},
 year = {2012}
}
,@book{170160,
 address = {Grahamstown, South Africa},
 author = {Heemstra, P.C. and Heemstra, E.},
 publisher = {South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity and National Inquiry Service Centre},
 title = {Coastal Fishes of southern Africa},
 year = {2004}
}
,@book{170164,
 author = {Fischer, W. and Bianchi, G.},
 title = {FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Western Indian Ocean (Fishing Area 51)},
 year = {1984}
}
,@book{170169,
 address = {Cape Town, South Africa},
 author = {van der Elst, R},
 publisher = {Struik Publishers},
 title = {A guide to the common sea fishes of southern Africa},
 year = {1993}
}
,@article{170184,
 author = {Fennessy, S.T., McDonald, A.M., Mann, B.Q. and Everett, B.I.},
 journal = {African Journal of Marine Science},
 pages = {61--78},
 title = {An assessment of the recreational and commercial skiboat fishery in the Transkei},
 volume = {25},
 year = {2003}
}
,@electronic{170184,
 address = {http://www.sadsaa.com/},
 author = {SADSAA},
 title = {South African Deep Sea Angling Association},
 year = {2012}
}
,@article{170195,
 author = {Chater, S.A., Beckley, L.E., van der Elst, R.P. and Garratt, P.A.},
 title = {Underwater visual census of fishes in the St Lucia marine reserve, South Africa},
 year = {1995}
}
,@book{170195,
 address = {Cape Town},
 author = {King, D. and Fraser, V.},
 publisher = {Struik Publishers},
 title = {More reef fishes and nudibranchs of the east and south coast of southern Africa},
 year = {2002}
}
,@article{170195,
 author = {Rao, P.Y., Damodar, G. and Rao, D.S.},
 journal = {Indian Journal of Fisheries},
 number = {2},
 pages = {229--232},
 title = {On the occurrence of marine ornamental fishes at Visakhapatnam},
 volume = {51},
 year = {2004}
}
,]

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