The condition of economical important coral reef fishes in eastern and western small outer island Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract More than three months of cumulative comprehensive studied we conducted to evaluate coral reef fishes composition in Eastern Indonesia Region (Liki Island) and Western Indonesia Region (Natuna Island) of small outer Island (SOI) Indonesia. There is a fundamental problem in the ecological function of the coral reef ecosystem and the potential of economically important reef fishes in small outer Island Indonesia. Several obstructions become an essential problem, including the location of SOI, which is far from the mainland with a lack of surveillance and monitoring; consequently, the coral ecosystem and its coral reef fishes are threatened. Overfishing and destructive fishing are the major problems reported in several locations on the outermost island. Both anthropogenic stressors cause degraded coral ecosystems and give the loss specific species of marine species, especially in economically important coral reef fishes that primary target for fisheries. The latest and continuous time series data is essential as necessary information to arrange the appropriate and sustainable policies in Small outer islands, especially in protected the ecosystem from ecological extinction. The main goal of our study is to evaluate the potential of economic coral reef fishes with analysis of two families of fundamental economic and targeted fisheries: groupers (Serranidae) and snapper (Lutjanidae) in eastern and western small outer island Indonesia. The data were collected in each six site location in both eastern and western region SOI using Underwater Visual Census (UVC) technique. Four parameters, including species richness, abundance, biomass, and indices of economic coral reef fishes (Shannon, Evenness, Simpson, and ENS), were compared between the eastern region (Liki) to the Western region (Natuna) with Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric statistical analysis and internal Pairwise Wilcoxon analysis. The eastern region (Liki) recorded higher fish richness, abundance, and biomass than the western region (Natuna) (p< 0.05). Comparisons with ecological indices shown in the eastern region SOI (Liki) had a more diverse economic important coral reef fishes than western region SOI (Natuna). Understanding the composition of economically important coral reef fish in SOI will reveal more about the condition of the ecological function of the coral ecosystem and their vulnerability to future changes.