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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 229 / Thursday, December 2, 2021 / Proposed Rules
species, we evaluate whether the information indicates that the species may face an extinction risk such that listing, delisting, or reclassification may be warranted; this may be indicated in information expressly discussing the species status and trends, or in information describing impacts and threats to the species. We evaluate whether the petition presents any information on specific demographic factors pertinent to evaluating extinction risk for the species e.g., population abundance and trends, productivity, spatial structure, age structure, sex ratio, diversity, current and historical range, habitat integrity or fragmentation, and the potential contribution of identified demographic risks to extinction risk for the species.
We then evaluate whether the petition presents information suggesting potential links between these demographic risks and the causative impacts and threats identified in section 4a1 of the ESA.
Information presented on impacts or threats should be specific to the species and should reasonably suggest that one or more of these factors may be operative threats that act or have acted on the species to the point that it may warrant protection under the ESA.
Broad statements about generalized threats to the species, or identification of factors that could negatively impact a species, do not constitute substantial information indicating that listing may be warranted. We look for information indicating that not only is the particular species exposed to a factor, but that the species may be responding in a negative fashion; then we assess the potential significance of that negative response.
Many petitions identify risk classifications made by nongovernmental organizations, such as the International Union on the Conservation of Nature IUCN, the American Fisheries Society, or NatureServe, as evidence of extinction risk for a species. Risk classifications by such organizations or made under other Federal or state statutes may be informative, but such classification alone may not provide the rationale for a positive 90-day finding under the ESA. For example, as explained by NatureServe, their assessments of a species conservation status do not constitute a recommendation by NatureServe for listing under the U.S.
ESA because NatureServe assessments have different criteria, evidence requirements, purposes, and taxonomic coverage than official lists of endangered and threatened species, and therefore these two types of lists should not be expected to coincide
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AboutTheData/DataTypes/Conservation StatusCategories. Additionally, species classifications under IUCN and the ESA
are not equivalent; data standards, criteria used to evaluate species, and treatment of uncertainty are also not necessarily the same. Thus, when a petition cites such classifications, we will evaluate the source of information that the classification is based upon in light of the standards on extinction risk and impacts or threats discussed above.
Taxonomy The petition presents information on the taxonomy of the species, including information and references regarding the earliest description of the species primarily on differences in the skull compared to other humpback dolphins known at the time Kukenthal 1891, Collins 2015, Collins et al. 2017. The distinctness of the species from other humpback dolphins has been questioned over the years Ross et al.
1995, but more recent genetic and morphological work Jefferson and Van Waerebeek 2004, Mendez et al. 2013, Jefferson and Rosenbaum 2014 has clarified the taxonomy of the genus Sousa and provides multiple lines of evidence that S. teuszii is a species separate from the other three of the genus Sousa: S. plumbea Indian Ocean humpback dolphin, S. chinensis IndoPacific humpback dolphin, and S.
sahulensis Australian humpback dolphin Jefferson and Rosenbaum 2014. Thus, we conclude that the petitioned entity, S. teuszii, constitutes a taxonomically distinct species eligible for listing under the ESA.
Distribution, Habitat, and Life History The Atlantic humpback dolphin is described as an obligate shallow water dolphin and is endemic to the tropical and subtropical eastern Atlantic nearshore waters <30 m of western Africa, ranging from Western Sahara to Angola Collins 2015, Weir and Collins 2015. This species is the only member of the genus that occurs outside of the Indo-Pacific region Mendez et al. 2013, Jefferson and Rosenbaum 2014, Collins 2015. Although each of the 19 countries between and including Western Sahara and Angola are presumed to be part of the species natural range, the current distribution is uncertain given incomplete research coverage, including an absence of survey effort in many areas. Currently, there are only confirmed records of occurrence in the following 13 countries: Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of
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the Congo, and Angola Minton et al.
2020. The 6 countries with no confirmed records Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote dIvoire, Ghana, mainland Equatorial Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are poorly studied and have received little or no systematic cetacean or coastal research Collins et al. 2017. Work conducted in Ghana by Van Waerebeek et al. 2009
confirms the absence of S. teuszii records, which may be due to localized extirpation of the species in Ghanaian waters. The species is not known to occur around any of the larger offshore islands of the Gulf of Guinea, including Sao Tome and Principe or Bioko Fernando Poo and Annabon Pagalu Van Waerebeek et al. 2004. Eleven putative management stocks i.e subpopulations of S. teuszii have been recognized based on localities or countries where the species has been recorded and evidence of gaps in the species range Van Waerebeek et al.
2004, Collins 2015, Collins et al. 2017.
Migrations and movements are poorly understood largely because tagging work has never been done on this species Collins et al. 2017. Localized movements have been linked to feeding opportunities facilitated by tides, where Atlantic humpback dolphins feed primarily on coastal, estuarine, and reefassociated fishes Busnel 1973, Collins 2015, Collins et al. 2017. Large-scale migrations are rarely documented but have been inferred using local accounts and sightings from fishermen, and smaller-scale shifts in abundance have been postulated based on fragmentary evidence Collins 2015, Collins et al.
2017. However, movements across national boundaries have been documented, and records elsewhere suggest transboundary movements Collins 2015, Collins et al. 2017.
The Atlantic humpback dolphin has specific habitat requirements, which could limit its resilience and ability to escape environmental and anthropogenic stressors Collins 2015.
It occurs exclusively in shallow <30 m depths, in warm nearshore waters average sea surface temperatures ranging from 15.8 to 31.8 Celsius, and in dynamic habitats strongly influenced by tidal patterns e.g., sandbanks, deltas, estuaries, and mangrove systems Collins 2015, Weir and Collins 2015, Taylor et al. 2020.
Data and information regarding life history and reproduction parameters are almost nonexistent for this species. An estimated generation length of 18.4
years is given for the Atlantic humpback dolphin, although a figure closer to 25
years is provided for the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin S. chinensis and
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