IUCN Red List Status

The resulting baseline dataset is the most comprehensive yet for Eastern Africa with more than 1,600 taxa assessed and evaluated to date.

Estimated numbers of extant inland water-dependent species by major taxonomic group 

 Taxon

Number of described species

Number of species in eastern Africa

% of global total found in eastern Africa
Fishes ~15,000 1,096 7%
Molluscs  ~ 5,000 230 4%
Odonates     5,680 304 5%
Crabs  c.1,300 37 3%


The breakdown of the Red List threatened status is given for each taxonomic group below. Twenty-eight per cent of fishes, 18% of molluscs, 4% of odonates and 54% of crabs found in the region are assessed as globally threatened.

Summary of the IUCN Red List Category classifications at the global scale by taxonomic groupings *
Taxon
 Total
 EX EW CR EN VU NT LC DD
Fishes 959 0.2% 0% 7% 3% 19% 1% 56% 14%
Molluscs 143 0% 0% 3% 10% 9% 14% 28% 36%
Odonates 28 0% 0% 21% 7% 11% 14% 25% 21%
Crabs 28  0% 0% 0% 21% 43% 4% 32% 0%
Total 1158 0% 0% 7% 4%
 18%
 3% 51% 16%


Summary of the IUCN Red List Category classifications at the regional scale by taxonomic groupings *
Taxon Total EX EW RE CR EN VU NT LC DD
Fishes 1096 0.2% 0% 0%  6% 3% 19% 1% 58% 13%
Molluscs 193  0% 0% 0%  2% 7% 9% 11% 33% 37%
Odonates 268  0% 0% 0%  2% 1% 1% 4% 87% 4%
Crabs 37  0% 0% 0%  0% 16% 38% 3% 43% 0%
Total 1594 0% 0% 0% 5% 4% 15% 3% 59% 14%

IUCN Red List Categories: EX - Extinct, RE - Regionally Extinct, EW - Extinct in the Wild, CR - Critically Endangered, EN - Endangered, VU - Vulnerable, NT - Near Threatened, LC - Least Concern, DD - Data Deficient

A notably high proportion of species assessed are endemic to the region, with 82% of fish, 74% of molluscs, 15% of odonates and 76% of crabs being known only from eastern Africa. Such high levels of endemism indicate a significant degree of adaptation to the environmental conditions within the region. It therefore follows that, should these species be lost, alternative replacment species may not be as well adapted to the local conditions.

 

* These figures include the most recent global assessments, and therefore may differ from the results given in the Eastern Africa Report, published 2005