Reef Areas Research Articles

First record of patchy coral reef off Terekhol, North Goa, India

This study reports the first time record of the patchy coral reef (~ 2 km2) of Terekhol in North Goa, the western coast of India during January – February 2020. There were more than 07 genera/species of hard corals in the reef and is dominated by a reef building Turbinaria mesenterina (Dendrophylliidae), which is considered as a sediment tolerant coral species. A total of 25 fish species were counted and the major species recorded were Chromis viridis, Chromis sp., Dascyllus sp., Abudefduf saxatilis, Abudefduf bengalensis, Acanthurus blochii, Acanthurus nigroris, Acanthurus sp., and Odonus niger that contributed 80 % of the total fish community. The documentation and record of the reef area could give identity to the ecosystem in the spatial platform and the conservation efforts can be planned for the reef by limiting the anthropogenic activities in and around the ecosystem.

Status of Coral Reefs in Lagonoy Gulf, Eastern Bicol, Philippines with Emphasis on Marine Protected Areas

Status of coral reef health of 8 Marine Protected Areas (MPA), 6 adjacent MPA reefs and 5 regular reefs of Lagonoy Gulf were assessed from December 2017 to August 2018 and compared with previous gulf-wide assessment results in 1994 and 2004. Underwater photo transect (UPT) method was utilized to collect benthic lifeform information and coral point count with excel extensions (CPCe) was used to analyzed benthic data. Results showed that present live coral cover in MPAs are low with 26% as compared to adjacent MPA reef areas (30%) and regular reef stations (33%). A downtrend was noted from 1993 – 2004 with 10% decline of MPA reefs while from 2004 to 2018 decrease was almost 20% and from 1993 to 2018 an average fall of 25% was detected. Overall, Lagonoy Gulf reef health is declining and can be attributed to both natural and fisheries activities, as evidenced by almost 20 typhoons affecting the Region per year with a super typhoon at least every 5-10 years and the heavy dependence of fishing communities on reef fishes respectively. However, non-MPA reefs decline was observed to very minimal as compared for both MPA and adjacent MPA reefs ranging from 1% to 6%. With this, MPA management schemes should be revisited and amended to improve and strengthen MPA governance, direction and strategies.

Distribution of acoustic fish backscatter associated with natural and artificial reefs in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico

Artificial reefs have been deployed throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico in an effort to enhance fish production and mitigate losses from the depletion of natural habitats. Measuring the efficacy of artificial reefs in these capacities requires both fine- and large-scale direct comparisons between natural and artificial reef structures. We conducted mobile active acoustic surveys to examine intra-reef and regional spatial patterns of acoustic fish backscatter in ~2 km2 survey areas over 14 natural and 17 artificial reefs along the northwestern Florida continental shelf. Nested generalized additive models (GAMs) showed that intra-reef backscatter from fish at natural reefs was diffused throughout the survey area forming low density patches, whereas backscatter at artificial reefs was concentrated in high density hot-spots that were constricted horizontally within a mean of 116 m away from the structure. The exact distance from artificial structures at which backscatter was decreased to background levels, termed the area of influence, was found to be mediated by reef longitude, relief, area, and depth. On a regional scale, hierarchical GAMs (HGAMs) which incorporated altitude from the seafloor explained a larger proportion of deviance in backscatter than either latitude or longitude at both habitat types, indicating that the horizontal distribution of backscatter at these habitats varied throughout the water column. Trends in the horizontal distribution of backscatter were primarily driven by scatterers within 20 m of the seafloor at natural reefs and within 10 m of the surface at both natural and artificial reefs. HGAMs which examined only the horizontal distribution of backscatter showed a negative gradient of fish backscatter at natural reefs from west to east along the northwestern Florida continental shelf which was significantly influenced by reef depth. At both reef types, backscatter from fish was highest in the bottom 10 m of the water column and declined significantly with increasing altitude from the seafloor.

Dominance of Scorpaena maderensis among scorpaenids of littoral rocky reefs in Corsica (NW Mediterranean): Further evidence of Mediterranean Sea warming.

The population of Scorpaenidae was investigated in the Nature Reserve of Scàndula (Corsica, France, NW Mediterranean). While absent from Corsica a few decades ago, the Madeira rockfish Scorpaena maderensis is now the most abundant scorpaenid species in shallow rocky reef areas, far outnumbering Scorpaena notata and Scorpaena porcus. Considered as a subtropical species of Atlantic origin, the northward progression of the thermophilic S. maderensis and its dominance in Corsican waters is further evidence of the ongoing warming of the Mediterranean Sea.

Socio-Spatial Approach to Cultivation of Lobster in the Ekas Bay Area, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara

Indonesia is one of the countries that has the largest marine wealth in the world with an area of 6.32 million waters with an accumulated coastline of 81,000 km and has a very large coral reef area as one of habitats for lobster. Lobsters live at a depth of 100-200 meters below sea level with a temperature of 20-30°C, with the distribution of lobsters in almost all Indonesian waters. One area of Indonesia’s center for lobster cultivation is West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). The Directorate of Marine Spatial Planning designed a program scheme that was prepared to follow up on Lombok's lobster cultivation center, the lobster estate program or known as lobster cultivation village with blue economy principles. The core of sustainability which in development considering resources in the marine space characteristics that are vulnerable to environmental changes and open access - utilization that is open to the public and everyone can access it freely. Answering how conflicts of interest fight over marine space, it is necessary to pay attention to the relationship between space and the humans involved. This analysis is explained by using Levebvre's Socio-Spatial approach where space neutral and passive geometry. Space represents the site of struggle. In particular, the purpose paper is to add another point of view that already exists in reporting the detailed plan for marine aquaculture utilization zones. This article descriptive qualitative method. Results obtained preparation detailed spatial planning, consider the existence of conflict of interest contestations between stakeholders and accommodate conflicts of interest that may occur.

Microplastics in different tissues of caught fish in the artificial reef area and adjacent waters of Haizhou Bay

In recent years, the microplastics (MPs) pollution in the offshore of microplastics has gradually become a concerning topic, and the understanding the accumulation of MPs in different tissues of organisms is also an important aspect. MPs can easily affect target tissues and transport related chemicals to humans through the food chain. MPs in the gills and guts of fish in the artificial reef area of Haizhou Bay and adjacent waters were detected in this study. The results showed that MPs were ubiquitous in the gills and guts of 26 species, with average quantities of 3.54 ± 2.14 pieces/fish and 3.00 ± 2.63 pieces/fish, respectively. More than 99% of the plastics were MPs that were less than 5 mm in diameter, with blue fiber being the most common. The number and quantity of MPs in gills were higher than those in guts in different habitat types, living water layers and feeding habits of fish. At the community level, as the body length and body weight increased, the quantity of MPs in the gills and guts showed a slight decreasing trend, and the correlation was not strong (P > 0.05). With increasing trophic levels (TLs), MPs were biomagnified in the guts (Trophic magnification factor, TMF = 1.37), but no change occurred in the gills (TMF = 1.00). We believe that biomagnification of MPs should be obtained by comparing the quantity of MPs in whole organisms rather than only in specific tissues before such conclusions can be defined. We recommend that periodic marine monitoring programs be implemented, as well as research into smaller MPs and even nanoplastics, to assess from the perspective of water, sediments, organisms and ecotoxicology, which will provide useful information for MPs pollution in artificial reefs and help to improve the MPs pollution database in China.

A Numerical Analysis on Coral Larval Networks across Reef Areas on the Northwest Coast of Okinawa Main Island, Japan

Coral bleaching has recently occurred extensively over the world’s oceans, primarily due to high water temperatures. Mesophotic corals that inhabit at depths of approximately 30–150 m are expected to survive during bleaching events and to reseed shallow water corals afterward. In particular, in Okinawa, Japan, mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) have been reported to serve as a refuge to preserve genotypic diversities of bleaching-sensitive corals. Connectivity of larval populations between different habitats is a key element that determines the area to be conserved for desirable coral ecosystems. Coral larvae generally behave passively to the surrounding currents and are transported by the advective and dispersive effects of ambient ocean currents. Thus, numerical ocean circulation models enable us to quantify connectivity with detailed spatiotemporal network structures. Our aim in this study is to quantify the short-distance and vertical connectivity of coral larvae in reef areas on the northwest coast of Okinawa Main Island. For the reason that both short-distance and vertical larval transport are influenced by complex nearshore topography, a very high-resolution 3-D circulation model is required. Therefore, we developed a quadruple nested high-resolution synoptic ocean model at a lateral spatial resolution of 50 m, coupled with an offline 3-D Lagrangian particle-tracking model. After validation of the developed model, short-distance horizontal coral connectivity across reef areas on the northwest coast was successfully evaluated. Furthermore, a series of Lagrangian particle release experiments were conducted to identify the vertical coral migration and 3-D connectivity required for the preservation of MCEs. The model revealed that coral larvae released from the semi-enclosed areas tended to remain near the source area, whereas they were diffused and dispersed gradually with time. The mesophotic corals were dispersed vertically to the deeper zone below the mixed layer, while upward transport occurred to induce the mesophotic corals to emerge near the surface, under the influence of the surface mixed layer. The model results solidly indicated significant connectivity between MCEs and shallow coral ecosystems.

Population Density, Distribution, and Species Composition of Sea Cucumbers in Pagasinan Tidal Flat, Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, Philippines

This study investigated the population density, distribution, and species composition of sea cucumbers in Pagasinan Tidal Flat, Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. Sea cucumbers were collected in the night along the tidal flat and by snorkeling along the reef area. The study recorded seven species belonging to genera Holothuria (five species), Bohadschia (one species), and Stichopus (one species). The population densities ranged from 0.09 ± 0.5 to 3.85 ± 1.67 individuals per 100 m2 each with varying habitat preferences.

Increased Coral Larval Supply Enhances Recruitment for Coral and Fish Habitat Restoration

Loss of foundation reef-corals is eroding the viability of reef communities and ecosystem function in many regions globally. Coral populations are naturally resilient but when breeding corals decline, larval supply becomes limiting and natural recruitment is insufficient for maintaining or restoring depleted populations. Passive management approaches are important but in some regions they are proving inadequate for protecting reefs, therefore active additional intervention and effective coral restoration techniques are needed. Coral spawning events produce trillions of embryos that can be used for mass larval rearing and settlement on degraded but recoverable reef areas. We supplied 4.6 million Acropora tenuis larvae contained in fine mesh enclosures in situ on three degraded reef plots in the northwestern Philippines during a five day settlement period to initiate restoration. Initial mean larval settlement was very high (210.2 ± 86.4 spat per tile) on natural coral skeleton settlement tiles in the larval-enhanced plots, whereas no larvae settled on tiles in control plots. High mortality occurred during early post-settlement life stages as expected, however, juvenile coral survivorship stabilised once colonies had grown into visible-sized recruits on the reef by 10 months. Most recruits survived and grew rapidly, resulting in significantly increased rates of coral recruitment and density in larval-enhanced plots. After two years growth, mean colony size reached 11.1 ± 0.61 cm mean diameter, and colonies larger than 13 cm mean diameter were gravid and spawned, the fastest growth to reproductive size recorded for broadcast spawning corals. After three years, mean colony size reached 17 ± 1.7 cm mean diameter, with a mean density of 5.7 ± 1.25 colonies per m–2, and most colonies were sexually reproductive. Coral cover increased significantly in larval plots compared with control plots, primarily from A. tenuis recruitment and growth. Total production cost for each of the 220 colonies within the restored breeding population after three years was United States $17.80 per colony. A small but significant increase in fish abundance occurred in larval plots in 2018, with higher abundance of pomacentrids and corallivore chaetodontids coinciding with growth of A. tenuis colonies. In addition, innovative techniques for capturing coral spawn slicks and larval culture in pools in situ were successfully developed that can be scaled-up for mass production of larvae on reefs in future. These results confirm that enhancing larval supply significantly increases settlement and coral recruitment on reefs, enabling rapid re-establishment of breeding coral populations and enhancing fish abundance, even on degraded reef areas.

A Reflection on the Role of Tourism within Vulnerable Biodiverse Reef and Rainforest Regions

It is heartening to see that so many of the scholarly and personal contributions of our special issue should have addressed the complex collisions between culture and nature manifested today within Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics Rainforest World Heritage Areas.

Exploring the performance of mid‐water lagoon nurseries for coral restoration in the Maldives

Small island nations like the Maldives are highly dependent on healthy coral reefs and the ecosystem services they provide. Lately, Maldivian reefs have experienced considerable degradation as a result of severe mass bleaching events and accumulating threats posed by pollution, human development, coral diseases, and outbreaks of corallivores. Coral restoration can be a useful mitigation tool in assisting natural recovery, especially when economically important reef areas such as resort reefs are in poor health with slow natural recovery. This study assesses the performance efficiency of lagoon mid‐water rope nurseries for coral gardening in two different atolls in the Maldives for the first time. Three different coral genera, namely Acropora, Pocillopora, and Porites, were assessed applying a common monitoring protocol. Fragment survival was generally very high, exceeding 90% survivorship for the genus Acropora and Pocillopora, while nursing success for Porites was significantly lower (66%). We further report benchmark growth rates for these genera in mid‐water rope nurseries in the Maldives. The study also identifies potential threats to coral nursing success, namely disease occurrence and predation, as we report the corallivorous nudibranch Phestilla on in situ nursing stock for the first time. Overall, our results suggest that the use of mid‐water rope nurseries in lagoons is an efficient and widely applicable technique for rearing corals in the Maldives. We aim to provide useful insight into best practices for applying this coral gardening technique on a wider scale in the archipelago and highlight future research requirements.

Application of a SWAT Model for Supporting a Ridge-to-Reef Framework in the Pago Watershed in Guam

This study implemented experimental and numerical approaches for supporting the Pago Bay ridge-to-reef management program. Water quality tests for turbidity and inorganic dissolved nitrogen (IDN) were performed using water samples collected from four sites within the Pago Watershed. After conducting a one-way ANOVA test, the result shows significant differences in group means in turbidity levels (F value = 20.4 and p-value 3.29 × 10−7). Application of Tukey’s HSD test identifies one of the sites, the Pago River section, yields more sediment and IDN to the river system and Pago coral reef area. Observation of heavy rainfall, which causes much of the erosion and sediment transport, over the area should be taken into account in order to create best management practices. In addition, this study proposes a SWAT model for the watershed to identify locations of concern. The SWAT model was calibrated using historical streamflow data for the period of 2012–2018 and validated with data for the period of 2019–2020. The NSE and R2 values for the calibration are 0.864 and 0.938, respectively. For the validation period, the NSE value is 0.857, and the value of R2 is 0.937. In terms of sediments and nutrients, sub-basins connected to Pago River comprise the major source areas. Estimation of more sediment loads during the wet-monsoon season implies that heavy rainfall induces more erosion over the region.

Cataclysmic Disturbances to an Intertidal Ecosystem: Loss of Ecological Infrastructure Slows Recovery of Biogenic Habitats and Diversity

Understanding the resilience and recovery processes of coastal marine ecosystems is of increasing importance in the face of increasing disturbances and stressors. Large-scale, catastrophic events can re-set the structure and functioning of ecosystems, and potentially lead to different stable states. Such an event occurred in south-eastern New Zealand when a Mw 7.8 earthquake lifted the coastline by up to 6 m. This caused widespread mortality of intertidal algal and invertebrate communities over 130 km of coast. This study involved structured and detailed sampling of three intertidal zones at 16 sites nested into four degree of uplift (none, 0.4–1, 1.5–2.5, and 4.5–6 m). Recovery of large brown algal assemblages, the canopy species of which were almost entirely fucoids, were devastated by the uplift, and recovery after 4 years was generally poor except at sites with < 1 m of uplift. The physical infrastructural changes to reefs were severe, with intertidal emersion temperatures frequently above 35°C and up to 50°C, which was lethal to remnant populations and recruiting algae. Erosion of the reefs composed of soft sedimentary rocks was severe. Shifting sand and gravel covered some lower reef areas during storms, and the nearshore light environment was frequently below compensation points for algal production, especially for the largest fucoid Durvillaea antarctica/poha. Low uplift sites recovered much of their pre-earthquake assemblages, but only in the low tidal zone. The mid and high tidal zones of all uplifted sites remained depauperate. Fucoids recruited well in the low zone of low uplift sites but then were affected by a severe heat wave a year after the earthquake that reduced their cover. This was followed by a great increase in fleshy red algae, which then precluded recruitment of large brown algae. The interactions of species’ life histories and the altered physical and ecological infrastructure on which they rely are instructive for attempts to lessen manageable stressors in coastal environments and help future-proof against the effects of compounded impacts.

A spatial analysis of seagrass habitat and community diversity in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area

The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) in north eastern Australia spans 2500 km of coastline and covers an area of ~ 350,000 km2. It includes one of the world’s largest seagrass resources. To provide a foundation to monitor, establish trends and manage the protection of seagrass meadows in the GBRWHA we quantified potential seagrass community extent using six random forest models that include environmental data and seagrass sampling history. We identified 88,331 km2 of potential seagrass habitat in intertidal and subtidal areas: 1111 km2 in estuaries, 16,276 km2 in coastal areas, and 70,934 km2 in reef areas. Thirty-six seagrass community types were defined by species assemblages within these habitat types using multivariate regression tree models. We show that the structure, location and distribution of the seagrass communities is the result of complex environmental interactions. These environmental conditions include depth, tidal exposure, latitude, current speed, benthic light, proportion of mud in the sediment, water type, water temperature, salinity, and wind speed. Our analysis will underpin spatial planning, can be used in the design of monitoring programs to represent the diversity of seagrass communities and will facilitate our understanding of environmental risk to these habitats.

Coral reef monitoring in Panjang Island, Central Bangka

Bangka Island is the largest tin producer in Indonesia and since the granting of tin mining freedom in 2000, unconventional tin mining (TI) is increasingly prevalent. The existence of mining activities will directly or indirectly damage the environment both on land and at sea. Especially the high biodiversity of coral reef ecosystem. The purpose of this research was to analyze a map of the distribution of coral reef based on Sentinel 2A satellite imagery data. Analyze the extent of the coral reefs in shallow waters of Putri Island, and analyze of the condition coral reefs (percentage cover, mortality index and genus diversity) with using collaboration betwen the coral diving data and remote sensing data. Studies of changes in coral reef ecosystems have been ongoing since several decades ago. The combination of satellite imagery and aerial photographs is capable of making long-term and continuous observations on mapping and change detection. Remote sensing technology has several advantages overconventional sampling to monitor a large area in time almost simultaneously and continuously including the difficult to explore areas. This research was conducted with visual interpretation by using standard true color composite band (483) and false color composite band (843) of Sentinel 2A and also using lyzenga transformation. Estimation of coral reefs area based on result is 475,96 ha (2016) and decreased to 475 ha (2021). The condition of coral reefs at the research location is a good condition.

Historical Maps provide insight into a century and a half of habitat change in Fijian coasts.

Meaningful conservation goals require setting baselines derived from long‐term ecological records and information that is rare in many regions of the world. Historical data allow us to shift baselines back in time in order to strengthen conservation outcomes in the future.To explore how different histories of land use and development influenced coastal ecosystems in two Fijian cities (Suva and Savusavu), we compared a series of historical navigational charts. These charts recorded change in coral reef area and coastal mangrove forests, as well as expansions of hardened shorelines. We used geographic information systems (GIS) to georeference and make quantitative comparisons starting in 1,840 in Suva and 1876 in Savusavu.Our findings show that, despite increasing urbanization in the capital Suva, available coral reef habitat has not significantly changed in over 150 years, but development has hastened a nearly 50% loss of mangroves. Meanwhile, in the smaller city of Savusavu, coral habitats suffered significant loss in area and an increase in patchiness. As in Suva, shoreline hardening increased in Savusavu, but this change was not accompanied by a loss of mangroves.Nautical charts provided hitherto unavailable information on the long‐term loss and alteration of coastal habitats in Fiji. Historical ecology allows scientists to combat shifting baseline syndrome and set measured standards for conservation objectives.

How Much Shallow Coral Habitat Is There on the Great Barrier Reef?

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a globally unique and precious national resource; however, the geomorphic and benthic composition and the extent of coral habitat per reef are greatly understudied. However, this is critical to understand the spatial extent of disturbance impacts and recovery potential. This study characterizes and quantifies coral habitat based on depth, geomorphic and benthic composition maps of more than 2164 shallow offshore GBR reefs. The mapping approach combined a Sentinel-2 satellite surface reflectance image mosaic and derived depth, wave climate, reef slope and field data in a random-forest machine learning and object-based protocol. Area calculations, for the first time, incorporated the 3D characteristic of the reef surface above 20 m. Geomorphic zonation maps (0–20 m) provided a reef extent estimate of 28,261 km2 (a 31% increase to current estimates), while benthic composition maps (0–10 m) estimated that ~10,600 km2 of reef area (~57% of shallow offshore reef area) was covered by hard substrate suitable for coral growth, the first estimate of potential coral habitat based on substrate availability. Our high-resolution maps provide valuable information for future monitoring and ecological modeling studies and constitute key tools for supporting the management, conservation and restoration efforts of the GBR.

Reef accumulation is decoupled from recent degradation in the central and southern Red Sea

Reefs are biogenic structures that result in three-dimensional accumulations of calcium carbonate. Over geological timescales, a positive balance between the production and accumulation of calcium carbonate versus erosional and off-reef transport processes maintains positive net accretion on reefs. Yet, how ecological processes occurring over decadal timescales translate to the accumulation of geological structures is poorly understood, in part due to a lack of studies with detailed time-constrained chronologies of reef accretion over decades to centuries. Here, we combined ecological surveys of living reefs with palaeoecological reconstructions and high-precision radiometric (U-Th) age-dating of fossil reefs represented in both reef sediment cores and surficial dead in situ corals, to reconstruct the history of community composition and carbonate accumulation across the central and southern Saudi Arabian Red Sea throughout the late Holocene. We found that reefs were primarily comprised of thermally tolerant massive Porites colonies, creating a consolidated coral framework, with unconsolidated branching coral rubble accumulating among massive corals on shallow (5–8 m depth) exposed (windward), and gently sloping reef slopes. These unconsolidated reef rubble fields were formed primarily from ex situ Acropora and Pocillopora coral fragments, infilled post deposition within a sedimentary matrix. Bayesian age-depth models revealed a process of punctuated deposition of post-mortem coral fragments transported from adjacent reef environments. That a large portion of Saudi Arabian Red Sea reef slopes is driven by allochthonous deposition (transportation) has important implications for modeling carbonate budgets and reef growth. In addition, a multi-decadal lag exists between the time of death for branching in situ coral and incorporation into the unconsolidated reef rubble. This indicates that recent climate related degradation in the 21st century has not had an immediately negative effect on reef building processes affecting a large portion of the reef area in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea.

Influence of historical changes in tropical reef habitat on the diversification of coral reef fishes

Past environmental changes are expected to have profoundly impacted diversity dynamics through time. While some previous studies showed an association between past climate changes or tectonic events and important shifts in lineage diversification, it is only recently that past environmental changes have been explicitly integrated in diversification models to test their influence on diversification rates. Here, we used a global reconstruction of tropical reef habitat dynamics during the Cenozoic and phylogenetic diversification models to test the influence of (i) major geological events, (ii) reef habitat fragmentation and (iii) reef area on the diversification of 9 major clades of tropical reef fish (Acanthuridae, Balistoidea, Carangoidea, Chaetodontidae, Haemulinae, Holocentridae, Labridae, Pomacentridae and Sparidae). The diversification models revealed a weak association between paleo-habitat changes and diversification dynamics. Specifically, the fragmentation of tropical reef habitats over the Cenozoic was found to be a driver of tropical reef fish diversification for 2 clades. However, overall, our approach did not allow the identification of striking associations between diversification dynamics and paleo-habitat fragmentation in contrast with theoretical model’s predictions.

Marine fish assemblages of Eastern Brazil: An update after the world's largest mining disaster and suggestions of functional groups for biomonitoring long-lasting effects

When the Fundão dam collapsed in Brazil, 50 million m3 of iron ore tailings were released into the Doce river, resulting in the world's largest mining disaster. The contaminated mud was transported 668 km downstream of the Doce river and reached the Atlantic Ocean 17 days after the collapse. Seven months later, there was evidence that the tailings had reached the largest and richest coral reef formation in the South Atlantic Ocean. This study provides the first description of species composition, abundance, and diversity patterns of fish assemblages in estuaries, coastal areas, and coral reefs affected by the rupture of the mining dam in the Doce river. A linear mixed model (GLMM) was used to evaluate the influence of salinity on fish abundance across estuarine and coastal ecosystems. In addition, based on functional traits related to habitat use and feeding habits, this study identified fish species suitable as bioindicators of the long-lasting effects of this major mining disaster. Bottom trawls were used to sample five estuaries and their respective coastal areas, and a visual census was employed to sample five reef areas, representing an impact gradient. A total of 269 species were recorded in all three habitats, but only seven were shared among them. The results showed lower similarity in assemblages among estuarine areas compared to the coastal and reef areas. Species composition among estuaries and reef ecosystems was more heterogeneous. In contrast, coastal habitats exhibited high homogeneity. Salinity had no statistically significant effect on fish abundance either in estuaries (p = 0.22) and along the coast (p = 0.14). Twelve fish species were identified as suitable bioindicators for evaluating the long-lasting effects of resuspension of contaminated sediments. These species are commonly found in the ecosystems under the influence of the disaster inhabiting potentially contaminated substrates and substrate-associated benthic preys.