A comparative study of the diversity, abundance and morphology of three selected reef fish from two different sites in Talim Bay, Lian, Batangas

• Main Authors: Calzado, Rodolfo J., Siocon, Mariel L., Songco, Carmina G.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2010
• Subjects: Coral reef fishes; Reef fishes; Biology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/11543
• Institution: De La Salle University

The members of the families Scaridae (parrotfish), Siganidae (rabbitfish) and Lutjanidae (snappers) are important fish groups found in the reef fisheries of Talim bay, Lian, Batangas. These three fish families make good subjects for baseline research on reef fisheries at Talim bay because they dominate the reef fish catch sold in Balibangon and Lian Public Markets, where Talim bay reef fish catch are sold. In this study, abundance and diversity of the fish families Scaridae, Siganidae and Lutjanidae from the two markets were compared. Morphology of samples from the three fish families were compared. Surveys of the number of individuals per family and the different species present per family were conducted between the months of August to November 2009. Purchased fish were photographed and measured for 16 morphological characters using 9 landmark points. The mean of each character was calculated and compared among the families. The value for each character was standardized to eliminate size factor. Using these standardized values multivariate cluster analysis in Statistica 9 was used to obtain a dendrogram of the relationship of body size among fish samples. During the survey, more fish were observed in Lian Public Market compared to Balibangon market. The Siganids were found to be the most abundant followed by the Scarids and Lutjanids for both markets showing that more herbivores than carnivores are being caught off Talim bay’s reef. The most diverse of the three families were the Scarids followed by the Siganids then Lutjanids. This may be attributed to the Scaridae’s high diversity in the Indo-Pacific. The Lutjanids were found to be the least diverse possibly because they are most sensitive to exploitation and overfishing. Thus, only a few species of snappers may thrive in the area. The most similar morphologically were the Scarids and Lutjanids possibly due to their swimming mode and fusiform bodies. During the survey in both markets, there were no fish observed that stood out in terms of size. This is supported by the morphometrics data which also shows that the fish samples were relatively smaller than their normal average sizes. Analysis of the results shows that Talim bay may be overfished of its reef fish. Wider research is needed to confirm this. This study can provide baseline data on the three reef fish families and can serve as basis for future research on the status of the reef fisheries of Talim bay, Batangas.