AsianScientist (Jun. 18, 2019) – A research team in Indonesia has estimated the natural stock of reef fishes from three regencies in the lesser Sunda-Banda Seascape in Indonesia to fill gaps in knowledge of species composition and biodiversity. Their findings are published in the IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science.
Using an underwater visual census method, the team recorded a total of 176 species belonging to 19 families of economically important reef fishes. Based on both abundance and biomass values, the researchers found that the highest estimated stock is located in the Southwest Maluku regency of Indonesia, followed by the Alor regency and the East Flores regency.
In addition, the community structure of fish in the three regencies is still in a relatively good condition. When the scientists calculated the biodiversity index for the regencies using the Bray-Curtis analysis method, they noted that the three sites shared 67.51 percent similarity, suggesting that there is not much difference in the community structure of the fish stock.
The article can be found at: Setiawan et al. (2019) Stock Estimation, Species Composition and Biodiversity of Target Reef Fishes in the Lesser Sunda-banda Seascape (East Flores, Alor and South West Maluku Regencies), Indonesia.
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Source: Wildlife Conservation Society; Photo: Fakhrizal Setiawan.
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