Status of the fringing coral reefs in the southern Egyptian coast of the Red Sea | ||
| Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries | ||
| Article 5, Volume 19, Issue 4, December 2015, Pages 51-67 PDF (506.4 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejabf.2015.2276 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Tamer Attalla1; Mohammed Kotb2; Mahmoud Hanafy2; Saad Mohammed2 | ||
| 1Red Sea Protectorates, EEAA, Hurghada, Egypt | ||
| 2Marine Science Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, 41552 Ismailia, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Study of the effect of human impact and sheltering condition on corals and fish assemblages was carried out in twenty nine reef sites at the area between Marsa Umm El-Grifate and Marsa Shuna, Red sea. Total living covers, total coral cover, and total recruitment colonies were recorded and exhibited higher percentages of occurrence on the exposed and un-impacted sites than on the sheltered and impacted ones. In contrary, the covers of algae, dead and bleached coral colonies were found to be higher on the sheltered and impacted reefs than on the exposed and un-impacted ones. In total, 117 fish species belong to 24 families were recorded. Although, carnivore fish were dominating the food web, the most abundant groups were found to be herbivore and planktivore fishes. Total fish abundance was higher in the shelter sites than in the exposed ones, while the abundance of herbivores, carnivores, and piscivores were higher in the sheltered and impacted sites than in the exposed and unimpacted ones. Total coral cover and total recruitments were negatively correlated to algal cover. Total fish abundance was positively correlated to total living cover and negatively correlated to total coral cover. Herbivores fish abundance was positively correlated to total coral cover and total recruitments, but it was negatively correlated to algal cover. Moreover, planktivores fishes were negatively correlated to the total coral cover and total recruitments. This study strongly recommended to organize the fishing activities along the southern Red Sea, in addition to regulate the rabid coastal development to this part of the Red Sea. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Coral reef; coral reef fishes; relationship; Marsa Alam; Red Sea; Egypt | ||
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