Fish assemblages in seagrass habitat along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba

Maroof A. Khalaf, Saber Al-Rousan, Fuad A. Al-Horani

Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Sciences, The University of Jordan-Aqaba, Aqaba, Jordan.
Marine Science Station, The University of Jordan, Aqaba, Jordan.

DOI: 10.4236/ns.2012.48069                

Abstract

The spatial distribution and community structure of the fishes were studied at different depths and sites along the Jordanian coast in seagrass habitat. A total of 37,034 fishes were counted representing 132 species belonging to 35 families observed during visual census in three sites (average of 4741.6 fish per transect). Out of the 132 species encountered, 5 species of them including Neopomacentrus miryae Lethrinus borbonicus, Pseudanthias squamipinnis, Lethrinus variegatus, Siganus rivulatus accounted for 57.7% of all individuals. Fishes were most abundant and significantly higher at 12 m depths (mean N = 2889.6) in comparison with shallow 6m depth (mean = 1225.3 with (p = 0.0218). This may be attributed to many plank-tivorous fishes that inhabit this depth such as P. squampinnis, Paracheilinus octotaenia, Chromis pelloura, Decapterus macarellus, and Cirrhilabrus rubriventralis probably with high abundance of plankton at 12 m depth than 6 m. The number of species was significantly higher in Phosphate Loading Berth (PLB; mean S = 54.7) than in Hotels area site (HA; mean S = 12.8) with (p = 0.0002) and Tala Bay site (TB; mean S = 31) with (p = 0.0484). This may be due to higher hard coral cover at Phophate Loading Berth.

Keywords

Fish Assemblages; Seagrass Habitat; Gulf of Aqaba; Red Sea

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Jackson, E.L., Rowden, A.A., Attrill, M.J., Bossey, S.J. and Jones, M.B. (2001) The importance of seagrass beds as a habitat for fishery species. Oceanography and Marine Biology, 39, 269-303.
[2]	Heck, K.L., Hays, G. and Orth, R.J. (2003) Critical evaluation of the nursery role hypothesis for seagrass meadows. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 253, 123-136. doi:10.3354/meps253123
[3]	Edwards, A.J. and Head, S. (1987) Key Environments Red Sea, 1st edition, p. 441, Pergamon, Oxfrod. Goldman, B. & Talbot, F.I. 1976. Aspects of ecology of the coral reef fishes. p 125-154. In: O.A. Jones & R. Endean (ed.) Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs, Vol. 3, Biology2, Academic Press, New York.
[4]	Den Hartog, C. (1977) Seagrasses and seagrass ecosystems, an appraisal of the research approach. Aquatic Botany, 7, 105-117. doi:10.1016/0304-3770(79)90015-9
[5]	Fishelson, L. (1971) Ecology and distribution of the benthic fauna in the shallow waters of the Red Sea. Marine Biology, 10, 113-133. doi:10.1007/BF00354828
[6]	Lipkin, Y. (1979) Quantitative aspects of seagrass communities, particularly those dominated by. Halophila stipulacea, in Sinai (Northern Red Sea). Aquatic.
[7]	Hulings, N.C. (1979) The ecology, biometry and biomass of the seagrass Halophila stipulacea along the Jordanina coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. Botanica Marina, 22, 425- 430. doi:10.1515/botm.1979.22.7.425
[8]	Beer, S. and Waisel, Y. (1982) Effects of light and pressure on photosynthesis in two seagrasses. Aquatic Botany, 13, 331-337. doi:10.1016/0304-3770(82)90068-7
[9]	Wahbeh, M.I. (1980) Studies on the ecology and productivity of the seagrass Halo-phila stipulacea and some associated organisms in the Gulf of Aqaba (Jordan). Ph.D thesis, University of York, Eng-land.
[10]	Whahbeh, M.I. (1982) Distribution, biomass, bi-ometry and asome associated fauna of seagrass community in the Jordan Gulf of Aqaba. Proceeding of the 4th International Coral Reef Symposium, Manila, 453-459.
[11]	Al-Rousan, S., Rasheed, M., Khalaf, M.A. and Badran, M. (2005) Bottom habitat and biological characteristics of the Jordanian northern Gulf of Aqaba. Chemistry & Ecology, 21, 227-239. doi:10.1080/02757540500211277
[12]	Khalaf, M.A. (2004) Fish fauna along the Jordanian Coast—Gulf of Aqaba. Journal of Faculty of Marine Science, 15, 23-50.
[13]	Goren, M and Dor, M. (1994) An update checklist of the fishes of the Red Sea. CLOFERS II, Jerusalem.
[14]	Khalaf, M.A. (2005) Five additional records of fishes from the Gulf of Aqaba, including Mola mola (Forsskal, 1775), new for the Red Sea, Zoology in the Middle East, 34, 45-42.
[15]	Genin, A, Jaffe, J.S, Reef, R., Richter, C. and Frank, P.J.S. (2005) Swimming against the flow: Amechanism of zooplankton aggregation. Science, 308, 860-862. doi:10.1126/science.1107834
[16]	Al-Rousan, S.A., Al-Shloul, R.N., Al-Horani, F.A. and Abu-Hilal, A.H. (2007) Heavy metal contents in growth bands of Porites corals: record of anthropo-genic and human developments from the Jordanian Gulf of Aqaba. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 24, 1912-1922. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2007.08.014
[17]	UNEP/IUCN (1988) Coral reefs of the world. UNEP Regional Sea Directories and Bibliographies. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK/UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya.
[18]	Berman, T., Paldor, N. and Brenner, S. (2000). Simulation of wind-driven circulation in the Gulf of Elat (Aqaba). Journal of Marine System, 26, 349-365. doi:10.1016/S0924-7963(00)00045-2
[19]	Manasrah, R., Badran, M.H., Lass, U. and Fennel, W.G. (2004) Circulation and winter deep-water formation in the northern Red Sea. Oceano-logia, 46, 5-23.
[20]	English, C., Wilkinson, C. and Baker, V. (Eds.) (1994) Survey manual for tropical marine resources. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Towns-ville.
[21]	Ohlhorst, S.L. Liddell, W.D., Taylor, R.J. and Taylor, J.M. (1988) Evaluation of reef census techniques. Proceedings of Sixth International Coral Reef Symposium, Townsville, 2, 319-324.
[22]	Rogers, C.S., Garrison, G., Grober, R., Hillis, Z.M. and Franke, M.A. (1994) Coral reef monitoring manual for the Caribbean and western Atlantic National Park Service. Virgin Islands National Park.
[23]	Sokal, R.R. and Rohlf, F.J. (1981) Biometry. W. H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco, California.
[24]	Ludwig, J.A. and Reynolds, J.F (1988) Statistical ecology. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
[25]	Peet, R.K. (1974) The measurement of species diversity. Annual Review of Ecological and Systematics, 5, 285-307. doi:10.1146/annurev.es.05.110174.001441
[26]	Khalaf, M.A. and Disi, A.M. (1997) Fishes of the Gulf of Aqaba. Marine Science Station.
[27]	Unsworth, R.K.F., Garrard, S.L., De Leon, P.S., Cullen, L.C., Smith, D.J., Sloman, K.A. and Bell, J.J. (2009) Structuring of Indo-Pacific fish assemblages along the mangrove-seagrass continuum. Aquatic Biology, 5, 85-95. doi:10.3354/ab00139
[28]	Khalaf, M.A. and Kochzius, M. (2002) Community structure and biogeography of shore fishes in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea. Helgoland Marine Research, 55, 252- 284. doi:10.1007/s10152-001-0090-y
[29]	Kochzius, M. (1999) Interrelation of ichthyofauna from a seagrass meadow and coral reef in the Philippines. In: Sere, B. and Sire, J.-Y. Eds., Proceeding of the 5th Indo-Pacific fish conference, Noumea, 3-8 November 1997, Societe Francaise d’Ichtjyologie and Institut de recherché Pou Le development, Paris, 517-535.
[30]	Risk, M.J. (1972) Fish diversity on a coral reef in the Virgin Island. Atoll Research Bulletin, 153, 1-6.
[31]	Luckhurt, B.E. and Luckurt, K. (1978) Analysis of the influence of the substrate variables on coral reef fish communities. Marine Biology, 49, 317-323. doi:10.1007/BF00455026
[32]	McCormick, M.I. (1994) Comparison of field models for measuring surface topography and their association with a tropical reef fish community. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 112, 87-96. doi:10.3354/meps112087
[33]	Pereira, M.A.M. (2000) A review on the Ecology, Exploitation and Conservation of Reef Fish Resources in Mozambique. 2nd National Conference on Coastal Zones Research, Maputo, 1-9.
[34]	Al-Zibdah, M., Oqaily, F., Al-Najjar, T. and Manasrah, R. (2008) Neighboring cage fish farming affecting water and seabed quality of the Jordanian Northern Gulf of Aqaba. Red Sea Ocean Science Journal, 43, 9-16.
[35]	Bell, J.D. and Pollard, D.A. (1989) Ecology of fish assemblages and fisheries associated with seagrasses. In: Larkum, A.W.D., McComb, A.J. and Shepherd, S.A., Eds., Biology of Seagrasses. A Treatise on the Biology of Seagrasses with Special Reference to the Australian Region. Elsevier, New York, 565-597.
[36]	Brokovich, E., Baranes, A. and Goren, M. (2006) Habitat structure determines coral reef fish assemblages at the northern tip of the Red Sea. Ecological Indicators, 6, 494-507. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2005.07.002
[37]	Goldman, B. and Talbot, F.I. (1976) Aspects of ecology of the coral reef fishes. In: Jones, O.A. and Endean, R., Eds., Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs, Academic Press, New York, 125-154.
[38]	Williams, D.M. (1991) Patterns and processes in the distribution of coral reef fishes. In: Sale, P.F., Ed., The Ecology of Coral Reef Fishes, Academic Press, San Diego, 437-474.
[39]	Randall, J.E. (1983) Red Sea reef fishes. Immel Publishing, London.