Diversity of reef fish on Lembeh Island as an indicator of the coral reef health condition

Abstract

Lembeh Strait in North Sulawesi is one of the areas included in the world’s coral triangle. Coral reef structures provide a habitat for reef fish. Herbivorous and invertivorous fish were essential to determine the direction of coral reef succession. This study aims to examine the health of coral reefs based on the presence of reef fish. Observations were conducted on January 16-19, 2019, with a total of 22 observation points. Observation of reef fish communities using the underwater visual census (UVCs) and belt transect method. At the observation site, it was found that there were 260 species of reef fish. The resilience of coral reefs based on the presence of reef fish has a high value on the parameters of the abundance of herbivorous fish, taxonomic diversity, and abundance of coral reef fish.