Coral reef condition in the coastal waters of Kei Besar Island, Southeast Maluku-Indonesia

Abstract

A study on coral reefs condition in the coastal waters of Kei Besar Island was conducted in 2019 with the aimed to provide data on taxa composition, density and colony diameter of stony corals, coral reefs condition, and ecological indices of the coral community. It was found during the study that there are 17 families of stony coral, which consist of 62 genera and 206 species. Among those species of stony coral, 79 species are classified as protected species and 50 species as ornamental coral. Coral families of Acroporidae, Faviidae, Fungiidae, and Poritidae have high species richness. The density of stony coral colonies between reef stations ranged from 3.0 colonies m−2 (low) with a relatively large colony diameter until 16.3 colonies m−2 (high) with a small coral colony diameter. The only one reef station was in Excellent condition, while seven reef stations in Good, four reef stations in Fair, and two coral reef sites were in Poor condition. The coral community in the coastal waters of Kei Besar Island had moderate species diversity of stony coral and low species dominance with stable condition.