11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

18.641
The Status Of Coral Reefs in The Eritrean Red Sea
Simon ZEREMARIAM* 1 , Yassin MOHAMMUD 2 , Philipos YEMANE 3 , Amanuel
GHEBRELUL 3 , Yonas AFEWERKI 3
1 Eritrean Coastal, Marine and Island Biodiversity Conservation Project, Ministry of
Fisheries, Massawa, Eritrea, 2 Eritrean Human Resource Development (HRD / MoF),
Massawa, Eritrea, 3 Coastal and Island Management Division, Ministry of Fisheries
(CMID/MoF), Massawa, Eritrea
In spite of the significant area coverage within the Red Sea, knowledge on Eritrea’s
marine and coral reef biodiversity is very limited. Since 2004, we surveyed the major
substrate categories, selected reef fish families and indicator reef invertebrates in more
than 100 reef sites distributed on inshore, midshore and offshore islands, in a north-south
direction throughout the Eritrean Red Sea coast with the aim of assessing the
biodiversity, community structure and status of the reefs. Survey results showed a
considerable variation in the average live coral cover, ranging from 20 to 89%. Softcoral
cover, however, was low ranging in the average 0 – 20% but varying greatly within
sites of the same reefs and between reefs of the same region. Analysis of similarities and
multi-dimensional scaling has revealed that these variations become less prevalent with
changes in latitude and with distance from the coast (i.e. inshore, mid-offshore, and
offshore islands etc…). In general, reef sites within confined locations (in almost the
same latitude) showed less variation in their coral cover, reef fish and invertebrate
abundances. The abundance of most indicator reef fishes and invertebrates was moderate
to good. Most of the reefs were healthy and free of any significant anthropogenic stresses.
The findings revealed that the Eritrean Red Sea is among the least impacted coral reef
areas in the world and, therefore, of global significance for coral reef conservation.
18.642
Effect Of Sewage Pollution On Coral Reef Sponge Communities At The Western
Side Of Havana City, Cuba.
Zuleika MARCOS 1 , Alcolado PEDRO M.* 2
1 None in this moment, Miami, Cuba, 2 Marine Ecosystems Department, Institute of
Oceanology, Havana City, Cuba
Three groups of stations were distinguished according to the distance and position with
regard to a submarine sewage outfall in the western Havana City as follows: a group of
two stations near the outfall, very affected by pollution; a second one of two stations
(Institute of Oceanology and Club Havana stations), slightly affected; and a third group
including a comparatively less affected station. The species of sponges Clathria venosa,
Cliona delitrix and C. varians were the main contributors to the differentiation of these
groups (>5%). They were also the most abundant in number, next to Scoplaina ruetzleri,
with prevalence in the most polluted stations, followed by Iotrochota birotulata form
typica that was found fairly abundantly in the slightly affected stations. This study
confirmed C. venosa as a consistent indicator of high organic pollution. C. delitrix was
apparently indicative of moderately polluted places, while S. ruetzleri, being a eurytopic
species, was not a consistent indicator. C. varians was not a clear indicator of the outfall
effect. Species richness, heterogeneity (Shannon and Weaver’s, index) and evenness
(Pielou’s index) were higher in less polluted. Contrary to great spatial differences,
significant temporary differences were not observed in sponge community structure,
composition and abundance. The possible favorable changes induced by the outfall built
on 2000 were apparently very quick and maybe for that reason they could not be detected
after 2002.
Poster Mini-Symposium 18: Reef Status and Trends
18.643
Coral Community Structure Of The Bolinao Reef System, Northwest Philippines
Mark Windell VERGARA* 1 , Wilfredo LICUANAN 2 , Porfirio ALINO 1
1 The Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines, 2 Shields
Marine Station, De La Salle University - Manila, Manila, Philippines
Reef-associated fishes account for 55% of the total fisheries catch of Bolinao and provide
employment to 31% of the town’s population. However, the condition of its reefs has
deteriorated and has been considered as one of the most over fished areas in the country. Even
though numerous works on coral research has been done in Bolinao - basic information on reef
locations, species composition, live coral cover, zonation patterns and other simple reef
descriptions has not been documented in detail since the first surveys. To address this, 50
randomly selected sites along Bolinao reef were surveyed using digital photo transects. Using a
digital camera attached to a distance bar, photographs of 20m x 0.5m belt transects were taken
at 3m depth intervals up to the depth where corals were no longer observed. Initial analysis
showed that Bolinao reefs are very different from other Philippine reefs because they are
dominated by the blue coral, Heliopora coerulea. Live hard coral cover rarely reached 25% in
most sites, in sharp contrast to more than 40% recorded in the previous decades. Although the
species list for the area is still being verified against the 1989 list of 275 species, some species
previously found to be common were no longer observed (Nemenzophyllia turbida) or have
been reduced to small patches (Acropora pulchra). Also, reefs on the eastern part of Bolinao
were shallow (3-12m) and characterized by high sedimentation rates and high degrees of
exposure to the NE monsoon. On the other hand, western reefs were deeper (up to 30m), had
lower sedimentation rates and dominated by the SW monsoon. Differences in community
assemblages and zonation patterns will be more evident once the complete survey data is ready
for analysis.
18.644
Changes To Macroalgal Species Communities in Shelf Edge Coral Reef Habitats in
Southwest Puerto Rico
David BALLANTINE* 1 , Hector RUIZ 1 , Nilda APONTE 1
1 Department of Marine Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Macroalgal species presence and abundance (% cover) was studied in two shelf edge (19-22 m
depth) coral reef habitats in Puerto Rico from 2003 through 2007. Cover and species presence
were calculated by quantification of digital photographs taken of 0.0625 m2 permanent
quadrats. Principal substratum occupying species included Heterokontophyta: Dictyota spp and
Lobophora variegata; encusting calcified Rhodophyta: Neogoniolithon accretum and
Peyssonnelia spp.; cyanobacteria: principally Schizothrix sp. and multispecies turf assemblages.
Percent cover of dominant species was highly variable temporally, although the principal space
dominating species remained the same, despite changes in their relative abundances. Periodic
blooms of Cyanobacteria are a recent (since 2003) phenomena and have reoccurred regularly on
a seasonal basis. Percent cover of algae in these deep coral reef habitats has steadily increased
since 2003 through the present.
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