Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; 90-Day Finding on a Petition To List Seven Indo-Pacific Species of Pomacentrid Reef Fish as Threatened or Endangered Under the Endangered Species Act

Résumé

We (NMFS) announce a 90-day finding on seven Indo-Pacific species included in a petition to list eight species of pomacentrid reef fish as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These are the orange clownfish (Amphiprion percula) and six other damselfishes: The Hawaiian dascyllus (Dascyllus albisella), blue- eyed damselfish (Plectroglyphidodon johnstonianus), black-axil chromis (Chromis atripectoralis), blue-green damselfish (Chromis viridis), reticulated damselfish (Dascyllus reticulatus), and blackbar devil or Dick's damselfish (Plectroglyphidodon dickii). Another of our regional offices is leading the response to the petition to list the yellowtail damselfish (Microspathodon chrysurus) and a separate 90-day finding will be issued later for this species. We find that the petition presents substantial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted for the orange clownfish (Amphiprion percula). We will conduct a status review for this species to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial information pertaining to Amphiprion percula from