Java Stingaree Declared Extinct, First Marine Fish Extinction Due to Human Activity

Tuesday, 24 December 2024

Java Stingaree Declared Extinct, First Marine Fish Extinction Due to Human Activity

Author: Andree Nizar
December 18, 2023

Java Stingaree Declared Extinct. Photo : Museum für Naturkunde Berlin

SEAToday.com, Jakarta - The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared an extremely rare Java Stingaree (Urolophus javanicus) extinct. The announcement was made during the COP29 Climate Summit in Dubai, Monday (12/11).

The species was first known in 1862 from a fish market in Jakarta. That specimen became the sole proof of this species’ existence. According to the Head of IUCN Red List Unit Craig Hilton-Taylor, the extinction of this fish was the “ first instance of a marine fish species going extinct due to human activities.”

Julia Constance, the lead assessor and a Ph.D. candidate at Charles Darwin University, stated that intensive and unregulated fishing, coupled with coastal habitat loss and degradation due to industrialization, were the primary factors leading to the extinction.