The Analysis of Coral Reef Fishes Abundance Based on Coral Reef Condition in Marine Tourism Park of

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International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology (IJEAB) http://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijeab.4418

Vol-4, Issue-4, Jul-Aug- 2019 ISSN: 2456-1878

The Analysis of Coral Reef Fishes Abundance Based on Coral Reef Condition in Marine Tourism Park of the Kapoposang Islands, South Sulawesi, Indonesia Isma Riskiani1, Budimawan2, Ahmad Bahar2 1

Student M anagement of Integrated Coastal Resources, Faculty of M arine and Fisheries, Hasanuddin University , M akassar-90245 Faculty of M arine and Fisheries, Hasanuddin University , M akassar-90245

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Abstract— The objective of the study was to analyze the relationship between coral reef cover and abundance of reef fish in Marine Tourism Park of the Kapoposang Islands, South Sulawesi. This research was conducted on April 2019. Collecting coral cover data using the Underwater Photo Transect (UPT) method and coral fish data collection using Underwater Visual Census (UVC) with belt transects. The research results of coral fish found in the study site were 15 families and 54 species. The highest abundance of reef fish was foun d at site I, which was 6280 ind/ha with a percentage of live coral cover of 34% (Moderate), while the lowest abundance w as found at site III of 2100 ind/ha with a percentage of live coral cover of 5% (Poor). The relationship between the abundance of reef fish and the percentage of live coral cover can be seen in the results of the regression analysis of the value of r2 = 0.942, this value indicates that there is a close relationship between abundance of reef fish with the percentage of live coral cover, that is if the coral cover percentage is getting better then the number of fish more abundant coral. Keywords— Coral reef, Kapoposang Islands, Abundance of coral fishes, Marine Tourism Park. I. INTRODUCTION Coral fish is a group of fish taxa whose lives are associated with the environment of coral reef ecosystems. Allen and Adrim (2003) suggest that as many as 113 families of fish are coral inhabitants and most of them are Order of Perciformes. The top ten major families of reef fish are Gobiidae, Labridae, Pomacentridae, Apogonidae, Bleniidae, Serranidae, Murraenidae, Syngnathidae, Chaetodontidae, and Lutjanidae. According to English et al. (1994), These reef fish are grouped according to their status on the three groups: target fish, major fish and indicator fish. In general, reef fish will adjust to their environment. Each species shows the right habitat preference/suitability which is governed by a combination of food availability, shelter and variations in physical parameters. A large number of species found on coral reefs is a direct reflection of the magnitude of the opportunity provided by habitat (Allen and Steene, 1996). Oman and Rajasurya (1998) who examined this matter stated that the complexity of the structure, composition and proportion of live coral cover gave a positive correlation to reef fish communities (Nontji, A. 1993).

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Coral fish is one group of animals associated with coral reefs, its presence is striking and is found in various micro-habitats on coral reefs. Reef fish live permanently and forage in sedentary areas so that if coral reefs are damaged or destroyed, reef fish will also lose their habitat (Rani et al., 2010). Marine Tourism Park of the Kapoposang Islands is located in Pangkajene Regency, South Sulawesi Province and one of the islands in the Kapoposang and Sea Surrounding Marine Tourism Park or abbreviated as Kapoposang Islands TWP, which is one of 8 national marine conservation areas under the management of the Kupang National Aquatic Area and 50000 hectares. Allen et al, (2003) stated that the presence of fish in the coral reef area was strongly influenced by physical variables (conditions of coral reefs and the environment). Based on this background it is necessary to research the relationship of coral reef cover with an abundance of reef fish. So the purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between coral reef cover and abundance of reef fish on Kapoposang Island, Pangkajene Islands Regency.

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