Changes in trophic community structure of shore fishes at an industrial site in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

Abstract

The semi-enclosed Gulf of Aqaba is under high pressure by urban and industrial pollu- tion, shipping and port activities as well as tourism. Off the Jordanian Red Sea coast, the trophic com- munity structure of shore fishes was determined on coral reefs in front of an industrial area (dis- turbed), in a marine reserve and site without industry or port activities (undisturbed), as well as in a seagrass-dominated bay. Planktivores were the most abundant feeding guild on coral reefs as well as in the seagrass-dominated bay. The relative abundance of feeding guilds other than planktivores seems to be strongly influenced by the benthic habitat. Multivariate analysis clearly separated dis- turbed from undisturbed sites, whereas univariate measures, such as species richness, diversity and evenness did not reveal any negative impact of disturbance. The disturbance of the coral reefs led to changes in the fish community through the reduction of total fish abundance by 50%, increased total abundance of herbivorous and detritivorous fishes, decreased total abundance of invertebrate- and fish-feeders, and increased relative abundance of planktivorous fishes.