Marbled Grouper Dermatolepis inermis were categorized as “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 1996, and the status of the species was set for review in 2018. Analysis used to support its global threatened status included basic parameters, such as numbers seen in a year and spatial maps of positive observations, but included no statistical approaches to interpret abundance trends. In an effort to improve the understanding of Marbled Grouper status and trends, we used the Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program reef fish video survey time series in the northern Gulf of Mexico, USA, to estimate relative abundance, proportion of positive stations, and the impact of habitat variables on fish abundance. Marbled Grouper were consistently observed in low numbers on the Louisiana shelf‐edge banks throughout the survey. Generalized linear mixed models using a negative binomial data distribution showed significant effects for the presence of reef and depth, while the percent coverage of rock was marginally significant. These results indicate that detection and abundance of Marbled Grouper are strongly associated with high rugosity and deep (60–100 m) reef tracts. Interpretation of annual trends was difficult due to high interannual variability, but the data appear to show no detectable trends. Given that the previous classification of near threatened was based primarily on the consistent but rare observation of the species in its preferred habitat on a global basis, and given that the annual indices produced for the northern Gulf of Mexico region were highly variable, we recommend that the current International Union for Conservation of Nature regional status be maintained. This study highlights the utility of optical surveys for collecting data on species that are rare or that are not observed using traditional fisheries sampling gears and also indicates the importance of synchronous collection of habitat information.

中文翻译：

---

墨西哥中北部墨西哥湾石斑鱼的现状和趋势

大理石石斑鱼Dermatolepis inermis在1996年被国际自然保护联盟列为“近乎威胁”，该物种的状况将于2018年进行审查。用于支持其全球受威胁状况的分析包括基本参数，例如一年中观察到的数字和正面观察的空间图，但不包括用于解释丰度趋势的统计方法。为了增进对大理石斑石斑鱼的状况和趋势的了解，我们使用了东南地区监测与评估计划在美国墨西哥湾北部的珊瑚礁鱼类视频调查时间序列，以估计相对丰度，阳性站点的比例以及生境变量对鱼类丰度的影响。整个调查过程中，在路易斯安那架子沿银行中始终观察到大理石石斑鱼数量很少。使用负二项式数据分布的广义线性混合模型显示了对礁石和深度存在的显着影响，而岩石的覆盖率仅略微重要。这些结果表明，大理石石斑鱼的发现和丰富度与高皱纹度和深（60–100 m）珊瑚礁区域密切相关。由于年度间的高度可变性，难以解释年度趋势，但是数据似乎显示没有可检测的趋势。鉴于先前对濒危物种的分类主要基于对全球首选栖息地中物种的一致但罕见的观察，并且考虑到墨西哥湾北部地区的年度指数变化很大，我们建议维持当前的国际自然保护联盟区域地位。这项研究强调了光学调查在收集稀有物种或使用传统渔业采样工具无法观察到的物种数据方面的实用性，并指出了同步收集栖息地信息的重要性。