IUCN Species of the Day: Social Wrasse
Photo credit: Dr. Luiz Rocha
The Social Wrasse, Halichoeres socialis, is listed as ‘CRITICALLY ENDANGERED‘ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. The Social Wrasse is only found in the Pelican Cays of Belize, with a total range of less than 10 km2.
This species is heavily reliant on mangrove wetlands and coral reefs for spawning as well as feeding. In the past ten years, the Belize tourism industry has skyrocketed, and people from all over the world are spending holidays there to enjoy the beautiful beaches and great diving. However, this growing industry has also led to the destruction of many mangrove and coral reef habitats, for development, off mainland Belize and the Pelican Cays. This rapid development and habitat destruction could further limit the already restricted range of the Social Wrasse, and possibly lead to its extinction.
Although the Pelican Cays are classified as a World Heritage Site, there are no measures to prevent further habitat destruction there. The Social Wrasse must be closely monitored and studied in order to develop protective protocols that can save this species and its habitat.
Geographic Range of the Social Wrasse
Credit: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™
To learn more about the Social Wrasse, click here. Or visit the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ by clicking their logo below.
To learn more about the Bush Warriors “Species of the Day” feature, please click here and read up on our initiative to raise awareness about the loss of earth’s biodiversity.
This entry was posted on September 6, 2011 at 8:18 pm and is filed under IUCN Species of the Day with tags animal blog, animal blogs, Animal Rights, Animals, animals blog, Belize, Belize tourism, Biodiversity., Central America, coastal development, Community, Conservation, conservation actions, coral reef habitat, coral reefs, critically endangered, critically endangered fish, Culture, Current Events, diving, Education, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, feeding grounds, fish, habitat destruction, habitat loss, Halichoeres socialis, killing, mainland Belize, mangrove fish, mangrove habitat, mangrove wetlands, mangroves, Nature, News, Pelican Cays, poaching, reef fish, social wrasse, Society, spawning grounds, stop poaching, tourism development, tourism industry, wildlife, wildlife blog, wildlife blogs, wildlife conservation, wildlife conservation blog, World Heritage Site, wrasse. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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