Reef fishes of the Bird’s Head Peninsula, West Papua, Indonesia

Gerald R Allen,Mark V Erdmann

doi:10.15560/5.3.587

Abstract

A checklist of shallow (to 60 m depth) reef fishes is provided for the Bird’s Head Peninsula region of West Papua, Indonesia. The area, which occupies the extreme western end of New Guinea, contains the world’s most diverse assemblage of coral reef fishes. The current checklist, which includes both historical records and recent survey results, includes 1,511 species in 451 genera and 111 families. Respective species totals for the three main coral reef areas — Raja Ampat Islands, Fakfak-Kaimana coast, and Cenderawasih Bay — are 1320, 995, and 877. In addition to its extraordinary species diversity, the region exhibits a remarkable level of endemism considering its relatively small area. A total of 26 species in 14 families are currently considered to be confined to the region.

Highlights

The region consisting of eastern Indonesia, East Timor, Sabah, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands is the global centre of reef fish diversity (Allen 2008)
Perhaps the most important include an amazing level of habitat diversity, a strategic location lying at a biogeographical “crossroad” or “melting pot” that captures faunal elements from Indonesia, the Melanesian Archipelago, and Timor/Arafura Sea, and a complex geologic past highlighted by shifting island arcs, oceanic plate collisions, and widely fluctuating sea levels (Polhemus 2007)
The list includes several goby species that normally occur in mangrove estuarine habitats, but due to the closely intertwined mangrove and reef habitats that are characteristic of the Raja Ampat Islands, they are frequently seen during reef surveys

Summary

Introduction

The region consisting of eastern Indonesia, East Timor, Sabah, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands is the global centre of reef fish diversity (Allen 2008). The work of Weber (1913), in particular, was the most extensive effort on Raja Ampat fishes until recent times, and includes accounts of 117 species based on 748 specimens. These were obtained by de Beaufort during a visit to the East Indies in. 1909-1910, and were mainly collected at Waigeo in the vicinity of Saonek Island and Mayalibit Bay. Weber and de Beaufort and various co-authors including Koumans, Chapman, and Briggs reported an additional 67 records from Waigeo and Misool in the Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago Several additional trips were made by the authors to these two locations in 2007-2009

Materials and methods

Results

Literature cited