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Fish larval occurrence and distribution in the seagrass-mangrove ecosystems of the Johor Straits

2015; Volume: 66; Linguagem: Inglês

0025-1291

R. Ara, Aziz Arshad, S. M. Nurul Amin, Mazlan Abd Ghafar,

Ichthyology and Marine Biology

A study was attempted to examine the diversity of fishlarvae of the western side of the Johor Straits, particularly its seagrassmangroveecosystem portion as the area has lately been subjected todisturbance due to the dredging activities and expansion works ofthe Tanjung Pelepas port. Five sampling stations of different habitatcomplexity were established within the Johor Straits and samplingsof fish larvae were carried out using Bongo net. In total, 23 familiesof larval fishes belonging to six different orders were identified fromthe seagrass-mangrove ecosystem of this stretch of the Johor Straits.Among them, 12 families viz. Clupeidae, Engraulidae, Ambassida,Caragidae, Leiognathidae, Scatophagidae, Sillaginidae, Sphyraenidae,Terapontidae, Cynoglossidae, Monacanthidae and Triacanthidae areclassified as residents of the seagrass ecosystem. The remaining 11families including Belonidae, Hemiramphidae, Blenniidae, Gobiidae,Monodactylidae, Mullidae, Nemipteridae, Rachycentridae, Toxotidae,Uranoscopidae, and Syngnathidae are classified under non-residentgroup and recognized as temporary dwellers in the seagrass ecosystemof Merambong due to the role of the seagrass-mangroves as breedingand nursery sites for most shallow water coastal fishes. Morphologicalcharacteristics of the larvae have long been used as the main diagnosticcriteria for larval identification. The paper emphasizes on the descriptionof the morphological characteristics of the different families gatheredduring the study period.