Wildlife
Dugong
The dugong (Dugong dugon) or locally known as ‘baqr al bahar’ is a species of high biodiversity value as its well-being is intricately related to the occurrence of suitable seagrass meadows on which it is entirely dependent. Read more.
Coral Reefs
Acropora downingi is one of the more common branching corals encountered in Abu Dhabi waters. A. downingi colonies are like tables of horizontal radiating branches which become fused at the centre of large colonies. The color is usually brown, grey or green, often with pale margins. Read more.
Hawksbill Turtle
Of the seven species of marine turtles worldwide, two species occur in Abu Dhabi waters having a total foraging population of around 5,500 turtles in winter. In summer period, around 7,500 turtles inhabit Abu Dhabi waters. Read more.
Osprey
Occurring on every continent except Antarctica, the Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), locally known as ‘Dammi’ or ‘Nisr Al Bahar’, is one of the most widespread birds of prey and a common breeding species in the Red Sea, the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Read more.
Socotra Cormorant
Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis), locally known as ‘Loh’ is endemic to the Arabian Gulf and the south-east coast of Arabian Peninsula. Compared to the distribution of other cormorant species of the world, P. nigrocularis is restricted to Arabian Gulf and Dhofar, Gulf of Aden and the island of Socotra. Read more.
Greater Flamingo
The Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) or ‘fanteer’ is a species with a broad distribution range from the western Mediterranean to Sri Lanka in the north, to South Africa in the south and can be seen in alkaline or saline lakes, lagoons and estuaries, fresh and salt waters and artificial wetlands. Read more.
Gray Mangrove
Gray mangrove (Avicennia marina) or locally known as ‘ghurm’, is the only mangrove species occurring in the United Arab Emirates. The bulk of the mangroves in the UAE (approximately 85%) occur in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Read more.
Bottlenose Dolphin
From the 13 different dolphin species recorded as occurring in UAE waters, there are three dolphins, or locally known as ‘dakhs’, which are seen most often from Abu Dhabi shore lines: the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) and the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis). Read more.
Shore Crab
Unlike the commercially exploited blue swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus) or ‘gabgoob’, that landed around 130,000 kg in Abu Dhabi Emirate in 2009, the illustrated shore crab (Metopograpsus messor) or ‘saratan ash-shati’ is commercially uninteresting, due to its small size (carapace width about 2 cm). Read more.
Blackspotted Rubberlip
The blackspotted rubberlip (Plectorhinchus gaterinus) or locally know as ‘Hilali’ is one of four commercially important fish species belonging to the family of the Haemulidae (Grunts, Sweetlips or Rubberlips) of which the painted sweetlips (Diagramma pictum) or ‘Farsh’ is the most popular species. Read more.
