Importance of monitoring an endangered endemic species - intra-species biodiversity perspectives on the Banggai cardinalfish conservation and trade

The Banggai cardinalfish Pterapogon kauderni is a marine ornamental fish with an exceptionally limited natural (endemic) distribution with IUCN Red List status Endangered. An object of national and global concern, conservation efforts have been hindered by misconceptions regarding key concepts (e.g. endemicity) and a lack of routine and standardised monitoring of P. kauderni populations, fishery and trade. This study approached P. kauderni conservation, including sustainable exploitation, from an intra-species biodiversity perspective, based on IUCN definitions and the evolutionarily significant unit (ESU) concept, with a focus on the importance of monitoring. Analysis of monitoring data combined with knowledge of the unusual life-history and unusually fine-scale genetic structure of P. kauderni were used to identify monitoring priorities and methodological recommendations to support holistic P. kauderni management at the ESU level, within the endemic range. Some implications of introduced wild populations and captive breeding were also evaluated. The analysis highlights the need for an inter-disciplinary approach and inter-sectoral collaboration in monitoring for management. In particular, to combine information from field surveys with trade data (e.g. Fish Quarantine records), and to keep long-term records, to avoid shifting baselines due to the current typically limited periods of data availability.