Goodbye Javan stickleback: Scientists announce first marine fish extinction

In 1862, German naturalist Eduard von Martens took part in a multi-year expedition into what was then called the Far East. That July, he found himself in a fish market in Jakarta, Java, then part of the Dutch colony. To a naturalist from temperate Germany, such a market must have been full of tropical wonders. Martens stumbles upon a strange little stingray, a popular Indonesian delicacy, and buys the dead fish.

Little did he know that he was the only scientist to see it.

Fast forward 161 years to December 2023, and the species is known to Martens as the Javan stickleback or Javan-tailed bat, Declared extinct. It had not been recorded since 1862 and was probably extremely rare when Martens purchased it. The extinction was declared after an extensive assessment of the IUCN Red List by researchers at Australia’s Charles Darwin University (CDU).

The Javan stickleback is not a household name; it was the first marine fish proven to be extinct due to human activity, something that took scientists a century and a half to confirm.

“Extinction is permanent, and unless we can protect populations of globally threatened marine species, the Javan yellowthorn will be just the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. Julia Constance. The CDU candidate leading the review told Mongabay in an email.

Scientists declare another fish species to be extinct by 2020, the smooth handfish (swordfish). But a year later, and following a petition, the IUCN reclassified the fish into the data-deficient category, meaning we still don’t know if it’s extinct.

The stingray is a species of stingray in the family Stingrayidae that lives in the Indo-Pacific region. They are known for having a venomous spine on their tail and live on the ocean floor. They tend to be smaller than other stingrays and have shorter tails, Constance said.

We know that the Javan stickleback specimen is female, but little else is known about the species. We don’t know if this specimen, about the size of a dinner plate, is a juvenile or an adult. We don’t know the species’ range around Indonesia. We know nothing about its reproduction, although it is slow to inbreed and therefore vulnerable to overfishing and other threats.

Constance said the Javan stickleback was likely driven to extinction by unregulated fishing, saying fishing pressure was so intense that catches of many species in the Java Sea had declined by the 1870s.

She said: “The northern coast of Java, particularly the Bay of Jakarta where the species is known to occur, is also highly industrialized, with widespread, long-term habitat loss and degradation. Given the fishing techniques of the time, the researchers speculate that the Javanese coast described by von Martens The sticklebacks were caught within 40 kilometers (25 miles) of Jakarta.

With the help of local fishermen, researchers have been keeping a close eye on the catch of the yellowthorn fish for more than two decades, but without success.

“The Javan yellowthorn’s classification as extinct sends a warning signal to everyone around the world that we must protect threatened oceans,” Peter Kyne, a senior researcher at the CDU who participated in the assessment, said by email. Species.”

The only other known species of stickleback in Indonesia, the Kai stingareeCaianus), is currently thought to be out of data, but it is also likely to disappear. It has not been recorded since its description in 1874 from two specimens collected near Key Island. A bright side? It was collected from a depth of 236 meters (774 feet), so it may still be out of sight. Here’s a pattern with a stickleback: Another one, the New Irish Stickleback (spiny snail), which was only discovered once by scientists in 1841 near the island of New Guinea.

Not long ago, humans thought the oceans were so rich and vast that we would never be able to meaningfully impact them. Since then, we have pushed several marine species to extinction, including the stellar manatee (Witch hazel), the great puffin (penguin) and the Caribbean monk seal (Tropical red yeast fungus).

Its species may also disappear without being scientifically catalogued. If von Martens had not had enough money to buy the Javanese ray on the market at the time, it would never have been described. Not only are we unaware of its existence, but we are also unaware of its extinction.

Constance said the extinction of the Javan stingray likely happened a long time ago and probably went unnoticed. Although the Javan yellowthorn may seem small and insignificant, it proves that the resources of our oceans are not inexhaustible.

Jawed fish, including sharks and rays, first appeared on our planet about 400 million years ago. But these ancient beasts are facing new dangers.According to a 2021 study natureOver the past 50 years, global shark and ray populations have plummeted by 71%, largely due to fishing.

But humans can also save what’s left. Once implemented, protective measures work.

Constance said fisheries were extremely important, both as a source of protein for a growing population and as a source of income. People around the world need to manage fisheries sustainably and devote more resources to monitoring species that may be in distress, he added.

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Quote:

Pacoureau, N., Rigby, CL, Kyne, PM, Sherley, RB, Winker, H., Carlson, JK, Dulvy, NK (2021). Shark and ray populations in the world’s oceans have been declining for half a century.nature,Chapter 589(7843), 567-571. Number: 10.1038/s41586-020-03173-9

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