Fish post-larvae assemblages at two contrasted coral reef habitats in southwest Madagascar
-
Published source details
Jaonalison H., Mahafina J. & Ponton D. (2016) Fish post-larvae assemblages at two contrasted coral reef habitats in southwest Madagascar. Regional Studies in Marine Science, 6, 62-74
Published source details Jaonalison H., Mahafina J. & Ponton D. (2016) Fish post-larvae assemblages at two contrasted coral reef habitats in southwest Madagascar. Regional Studies in Marine Science, 6, 62-74
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
| Action | Category | |
|---|---|---|
|
Cease or prohibit all types of fishing in a marine protected area Action Link |
 |
-
Cease or prohibit all types of fishing in a marine protected area
A site comparison study in 2013–2014 of two coral reef sites in the Indian Ocean off southwest Madagascar (Jaonalison et al. 2016) found that overall species richness and abundance of post-larval fish was similar at reefs where all fishing was prohibited for 15 years compared to fished reefs, and individual fish species or family groups differed with changes in water temperature, salinity and/or transparency. Overall, the non-fished reef had a similar average number of fish species/families (non-fished: 3–6, fished: 1–9) and post-larval abundance as the fished reef (non-fished: 5–24; fished: 2–26). In addition, the most dominant and frequent species/families differed between reefs (see paper for individual data) but this was influenced by sea surface temperature, salinity and water transparency. Two differing reef sites 50 km apart were surveyed monthly (except November) in August 2013–February 2014; a protected reef off Anakao (10 km2, protected from fishing since 1999) and a fished site in the Great Reef of Toliara, with reduced coral diversity. Fish post-larvae were sampled at three locations per site using light-traps and transferred live to a laboratory for identification to the lowest taxonomic level possible.
