Habitat Suitability Modeling of Asian-Moon Scallop (<i>Amusium pleuronectes</i>) in Brebes District Waters, Central Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the characteristics of the environment that determines the bottom habitat of the scallop from Brebes District and to map the potential habitat of scallop using spatial modeling. Research areas include the waters covering 806.03 km 2 of Brebes District extending 12 miles outward the sea. Habitat suitability mapping was conducted using Ecological Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA). Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to test differences in each environment occupied by scallop with the overall study area. ENFA results showed that the scallop required habitats with very different conditions from the mean habitat conditions existing in all study areas (p 5 km). In addition, the scallop also required bottom waters habitat with current velocity and high salinity (> 0.06 m/sec; 31.85-32.65 ‰) and low temperature of the bottom waters (29.92-30.06 °C), while towards the pH level of the bottom waters, scallop were relatively more tolerant (7.3-7.4). Based on spatial modeling of habitat suitability in the study area, there were three categories obtained: 1) “suitable habitat” area of ​​ 4,629.01 ha (5.8%), 2) “marginal habitat” area of 9,291.09 ha (11.5%), and 3) “unsuitable habitat” for scallops covering an area of ​​ 66,682.68 ha (82.7%).