Assessing coral reef fish biomass at Ko Khai Nok, Phang-nga Province
Keywords:
Biomass, Coral reef fish, Monitoring, EstimatingAbstract
Estimates of reef fish biomass are reliable indicators of fish and ecosystem health, which are essential for evaluating reef status and crucial for setting management targets. Fish biomass is a primary driver of coral reef ecosystem services and has a high sensitivity to anthropogenic disturbances. This study aimed to estimate reef fish biomass at Koh Khai Nok, Phang Nga Province using underwater fish visual census (UVC), a rapid and cost-effective method for monitoring fish communities. The target fish groups, ie; Mullidae, Carangidae, Siganidae, Kyphosidae, Lutjanidae, Nemipteridae, Scaridae, and Serranidae were selected as representatives for estimating the reef fish biomass. Fish size and abundance were estimated along four replicates of 30x2 m transects. Length estimates from each species were converted to weights using species-specific length-weight relationships in FishBase (Froese and Pauly, 2017) and summed to provide a biomass estimate for each transect. A total of 119 species representing 29 families were observed, of which 99 species from 26 families were found in the reef flat while in the reef slope, 99 species from 24 families were found. The biomass of the deep zone estimates was 7001.24 kg/Ha, which was significantly greater than the shallow zone (526.78 kg/Ha). Moreover, the biomass of carnivorous fish in the shallow zone was higher than that in the deep zone. In contrast, the biomass of herbivorous fish in the deep zone was higher than that in the shallow zone. Our results suggest that assessing coral reef fish biomass is very important for monitoring changes in coral reef ecosystem.
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