Abstract
The herbivorous fishes have been considered as a critical functional group and have capability maintaining coral reef resilience and avoiding coral-algal phase-shifts. The present condition shown, almost in tropical reef location, alga has dominated coral, even in the small outer island. The requirement to conduct comprehensive basic research in studying the patterns and composition of herbivorous fish, especially on the small outer islands. Twelve coral reef sites in eastern Indonesia (Liki Islands) and western Indonesia (Natuna Island) used as a research location for comparing the structure patterns of herbivorous fish communities (diversity, density, and body size) using the Underwater Visual Census (UVC) method. There was different pattern of herbivorous fishes families in Liki Island and Natuna Islands, where Acanthuridae is dominant in eastern Indonesia (Liki Islands), including Ctenochaetus striatus (41,00 ± 11,72 se) individuals/350m2, A. maculiceps (23,33 ± 13,61 se) individuals/350m2, Naso hexacanthus (18,67 ± 6,34 se) individuals/350m2 while Scaridae is dominant in western Indonesia (Natuna island), including Scarus rivulatus (31,67 ± 10,61 se) individuals/350m2, Chlorurus sordidus (30,00 ± 8,52 se) individuals/350m2 and Scarus quoyi (19,00 ± 9,73 se) individuals/350m2. Based on herbivore fishes composition Liki Island has a higher density and biomass compared to Natuna Island.Keywords: herbivore, fish, coral, small outer island, Indonesia
Highlights
Herbivorous fishes have a significant role in reducing algal standing stock in the coral ecosystem (McManus & Polsenberg, 2004), and the population of herbivorous fishes consequence of influence in algal cover after the loss of corals (Rongo & van Woesik, 2013; Sheppard, Ateweberhan, Bowen, et al, 2012; Wilson, Graham, Pratchett, et al, 2006)
Acanthuridae fishes in Liki Islands ranged to 60.0 cm, with a mean standard length of 19.63 cm (t = -38.02 ; ghedge = -0.96, CI95% [-1.02, 0.90]), Scaridae ranged to 80 cm, with a mean standard length of 21.41 cm (t = -9.70 ; ghedge = 0.79, CI95% [-0.98, -0.61]), and Siganidae ranged from 20 cm to 40.0 cm (t = -0.18 ; ghedge = -0.02, CI95% [-0.23, -0.19])
There were some differences in the length−frequency distributions for Natuna Islands (Western Indonesia) herbivorous fishes composition counted with total of 1043 individuals of herbivorous fishes from 3 reef fishes families, including Acanthuridae (n = 87), Scaridae (n = 846), and Siganidae (n = 110)
Summary
Herbivorous fishes have a significant role in reducing algal standing stock in the coral ecosystem (McManus & Polsenberg, 2004), and the population of herbivorous fishes consequence of influence in algal cover after the loss of corals (Rongo & van Woesik, 2013; Sheppard, Ateweberhan, Bowen, et al, 2012; Wilson, Graham, Pratchett, et al, 2006). There is an interesting hypothesis in interaction from coral, algae, and herbivorous fishes. After the loss of coral cover, the densities of herbivores increased significantly (Ruppert, Travers, Smith, et al, 2013). The increase of herbivorous fish can be related to higher food availability (Adam, Schmitt, Holbrook, et al, 2011; Fong, Frias, Goody, et al, 2018) and might be expected the abundance of algae trigger herbivorous fishes to grow following an extensive coral loss (Jayewardene, 2009). The hypothesis confirms the role and importance of herbivorous reef fishes in maintaining coral reef resilience and avoiding coral-algal phase-shifts (Bellwood, Hughes, Folke, et al, 2004; Hughes, Baird, Bellwood, et al, 2003; Hughes, Rodrigues, Bellwood, et al, 2007). Without the capacity to support herbivores, these reefs are likely to be vulnerable to algal overgrowth and potential long-term phase shifts (Rogers, Blanchard, Newman, et al, 2018)
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