Publisher :
Place of publication :
Publication year : 1999
Thematic : Seagrasses
Language : English
Note
Tropical seagrass meadows associated with coral reefs are utilized both daily and seasonally as feeding ground and nursery area of reef fishes. The interrelation of seagrass meadow and coral reef ichthyofauna was studied in Malatapay, Negros Oriental, Philippines. Sampling was conducted with a beach seine in seagrass meadow at two distances (50 m and 250 m) from a coral reef at day and night. 115 species belonging to 70 genera and 42 families were identified. Hierarchical clustering by Bray-Curtis similarity of samples shows a day and a night group with sub-groups depending on distance to the coral reef. Additional observations by visual censuses support these results. Resident and diurnally active species of the seagrass meadow belong to the families Labridae, Scaridae, Siganidae, Mullidae, Pomacentridae, and Gobiidae. Nocturnally active and resident species belong to the families Bothidae, Soleidae, Callionymidae, Scorpaenidae, and lethrinidae. Apogonidae, Plotosidae, Holocentridae, Diodontidae, Congridae, Muraenidae, Ophichthidae and Tetraodontidae migrate into the seagrass meadow at night to forage. Length frequencies indicate that Mullidae, Scorpaenidae, Lethrinidae and Plotosidae utilize the seagrass meadow as a nursery area. This demonstrates the interrelation of these habitats and the importance of seagrass meadows for coral reef fishes.
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Keywords : Batrachostomus cornutus
Encoded by : Mae Belen Llanza
