Download this paper as a printable PDF: Pondo Fish : Ichtfaunal survey of the Pondoland coast

We have recently had a paper published in African Journal of Marine Science (see attached) on the ichthyofauna of the new Pondoland MPA. There were no new species discovered but a couple of range extensions which were quite interesting. We have another paper in press with the same journal documenting the invertebrate and algal biodiversity of the region. A possible new species of algae was collected and I can send you the PDF of the paper as soon as it is published.

Yours sincerely
Bruce Mann (Senior scientist)
Oceanographic Research Institute
P.O. Box 10712, Marine Parade, 4056
Durban, South Africa
Tel: 031-3288171
Fax: 031-3288188
Email: bruce@ori.org.za

Towards the declaration of a large marine protected area: a subtidal ichtfaunal survey of the Pondoland coast in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

BQ Mann *, LCelliers , ST Fennessy , S Bailey and AD Wood

Oceanographic Research Institute, PO Box 10712, Marine Parade, Durban 4056, South Africa

Gleneagles Environmental Consulting, PO Box 611, Port Alfred 6170, South Africa
* Corresponding author, e-mail: bruce@ori.org.za

Keywords: Eastern Cape, fisheries management, ichthyofaunal survey, marine protected area, point counts, Pondoland coast, underwater visual census

Excerpt :
“A subtidal marine ichthyofaunal survey was carried out on shallow reefs (130m deep) in the Pondoland region between the Mtamvuna River and Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The purpose of this survey was to provide the baseline data required for the zonation of a large marine protected area proposed for the region. Survey work was carried out in May and June during 2002 and 2003. A seafloor map based on earlier seismic-reflection profiling data, coupled with fishers’ co-ordinates of known reefs in the area, was used to plan the survey. An underwater visual census (UVC), using the point-count method, assessed fish diversity, relative abundance and size structure. During the UVC, a total of 261 point fish-counts, covering an area of 14 288m, was completed. Atotal of 138 fish species from 49 different families was identified and a relatively high proportion of endemic species (26.6%) were recorded. As a result of the turbid conditions encoun-tered south of Mbotyi, numbers and diversity of fish species observed declined with increasing latitude. Endemic sparid linefish species, which are overexploited in other areas, were particularly abundant in this region, and a number of new range distributions of various species were recorded during the survey. The results of this survey contributed towards the zonation of the Pondoland Marine Protected Area, which was proclaimed in June 2004.”

Download this paper as a printable PDF: Pondo Fish : Ichtfaunal survey of the Pondoland coast

Posted on April 15th, 2007
Filed under: Related Info