Shallow-water hard corals (Hexacorallia: Scleractinia) from Bangka Belitung Islands Waters, Indonesia

Singgih A Putra,Helmy Akbar,Indra A Syari

doi:10.13170/ajas.4.2.14571

Singgih A Putra, Helmy Akbar + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.13170/ajas.4.2.14571

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Abstract

Bangka Belitung Islands (Sumatra, Indonesia) has various coastal resources, e.g., coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove forests. However, the coral community has been threatened by anthropogenic activities, i.e., tin mining and illegal tin mining. Threatened species assessment is important for mitigation of coral losses and management. The ojective of the present study was to examine the status of Scleractinian corals in Bangka Belitung Islands, Indonesia. A line intercept transect was performed for the coral reef survey. Live and dead coral cover were recorded in the three locations. Corals species were identified following taxonomic revisions. The results showed that there were 142 species of Scleractinian corals recorded from Bangka Belitung Islands. Of these, 22 species are the new report from the areas of the the eastern part of Belitung Island. Family of Merulinidae, Acroporidae, and Poritidae were predominant group in this region. It is concluded that the condition of the coral reef ecosystem in the Belitung Islands is relatively good, but fair in Gaspar Strait and Bangka Island. Keywords: Coral cover, coral diversity, hard coral, Scleractinia

Highlights

Indonesia has various tropical coastal ecosystems, such as mangrove forests, seagrass beds, coral reefs, sandy shore (Dsikowitzky et al, 2019)
The ojective of the present study was to examine the status of Scleractinian corals in Bangka Belitung Islands, Indonesia
The results showed that there were 142 species of Scleractinian corals recorded from Bangka Belitung Islands

Summary

Introduction

Indonesia has various tropical coastal ecosystems, such as mangrove forests, seagrass beds, coral reefs, sandy shore (Dsikowitzky et al, 2019). Delineation of the region takes account of other taxa besides corals, including mangroves, seagrasses, algae, mollusks, crustaceans, and fishes (Hoeksema, 2007). The coral reefs of the Bangka Belitung Islands were reported experienced to anthropogenic disturbances (Putra et al, 2018). Somehow, this condition was found in the other coastal area in Indonesia (Heery et al, 2018; Annas et al, 2017; Fadli et al, 2014; Fadli et al, 2012; Baird et al, 2012; Kusuma et al, 2016). The degradation affected seagrass meadows (Short et al, 2014) and mangrove forests ecosystem (Das-Gupta and Shaw, 2013)

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