Fish Diversity and Fish Assemblage Structure in Seagrass Meadows at Sikao Bay, Trang Province, Thailand ()
ABSTRACT
We
investigated the relationship between environmental variables as descriptors of
the fish community, in terms of species diversity indices and fish assemblage
patterns, in seagrass meadows at Sikao Bay, Trang Province, Thailand. Fish data
and water quality parameters were collected from January to December 2012. A
total of 10,596 fish specimens of 97 taxa in 48 families from four stations, Kham
Bay (7°30'9.21''N, 99°18'7.67''E), Boonkong Bay (7°31'2.49''N,
99°17'40.09''E), Ban Pak Klong (7°36'17.67''N, 99°16'32.89''E) and Sai Cape (7°38'30.19''N,
99°14'49.85''E), were collected using gillnets of three different mesh sizes.
The three most diverse families were Leiognathidae, Carangidae and
Tetraodontidae, respectively. The dominant species were Atherinomorus duodecimalis, Sillago sihama and Pelates
quadrilineatus. Specimens were highly abundant in July and less so in
January and species richness was high in July and less so in March. Fish
assemblages were classified into two patterns and the average of the Shannon
index was 2.7. The environmental parameters in each month were analyzed by
one-way ANOVA which did not show significant difference (P > 0.05) of
pH, orthophosphate,
wind speed and rainfall. Fish diversity and
assemblage, and environmental parameters, were categorized into four groups.
These could be promoted to local fisheries so that conservation programs cpuld be set
up to ensure the ecological sustainability of seagrass meadows.