An updated checklist of the marine fish fauna of Redang Islands, Malaysia

By

Du, Jianguo.
Loh, Kar-Hoe
Hu, Wenjia
Zheng, Xinqing
Affendi, Yang Amri
Ooi, Jillian Lean Sim
Ma, Zhiyuan
Rizman-Idid, Mohammed
Chan, Albert Apollo

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019-12-06

Original Publication

Biodiversity data journal

Volume

7

Pages

1--2

Subjects

Coral Fish Diversity Index , Fish diversity , ichthyofauna , new record species

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft Publishers [2013]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.7.e47537
eLocator: e47537

 

Abstract

Redang Islands Marine Park consists of nine islands in the state of Terengganu, Malaysia. Redang Island is one of the largest off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, which is famous for its crystal-clear waters and white sandy beaches. The ichthyofauna of the Redang archipelago was surveyed by underwater visual observations between August 2016 and May 2018. Census data were compiled with existing records into the checklist of the marine fish of the Redang archipelago presented herein. A total of 314 species belonging to 51 families were recorded. The most speciose families (Pomacentridae, Labridae, Scaridae, Serranidae, Apogonidae, Carangidae, Gobiidae, Chaetodontidae, Lutjanidae, Nemipteridae and Siganidae) were also amongst the most speciose at the neighbouring Tioman archipelago (except Chaetodontidae). The coral fish diversity index value for the six families of coral reef fishes (Chaetodontidae, Pomacanthidae, Pomacentridae, Labridae, Scaridae and Acanthuridae) of the study sites was 132. We estimated that there were 427 coral reef fish species in the Redang archipelago. According to the IUCN Red List, eight species are Near Threatened (Carcharhinus melanopterus, Chaetodon trifascialis, Choerodon schoenleinii, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus, E. polyphekadion, Plectropomus leopardus, Taeniura lymma and Triaenodon obesus), eleven are Vulnerable (Bolbometopon muricatum, Chaetodon trifasciatus, Chlorurus sordidus, Dascyllus trimaculatus, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus, E. polyphekadion, Halichoeres marginatus, Heniochus acuminatus, Nebrius ferrugineus, Neopomacentrus cyanomos and Plectropomus areolatus) and three are Endangered (Amphiprion clarkia, Cheilinus undulatus and Scarus ghobban) in the Redang archipelago.<br> Five species are new records for Malaysia (Ctenogobiops mitodes, Epibulus brevis, Halichoeres erdmanni, H. richmondi and Scarus caudofasciatus) and 25 species are newly recorded in the Redang archipelago.