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

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

doi:10.3897/BDJ.7.e47537

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

Biodivers Data J. 2019 Dec 6:7:e47537. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.7.e47537. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Jianguo Du^{1

2

3}, Kar-Hoe Loh⁴, Wenjia Hu^{1

2

3}, Xinqing Zheng^{1

2

3}, Yang Amri Affendi⁴, Jillian Lean Sim Ooi⁵, Zhiyuan Ma^{1

2

3}, Mohammed Rizman-Idid⁴, Albert Apollo Chan⁶

Affiliations

¹ Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen, 361005, China Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources Xiamen, 361005 China.
² Fujian Provincial Station for Field Observation and Research of Island and Coastal Zone in Zhangzhou, Xiamen, 361005, China Fujian Provincial Station for Field Observation and Research of Island and Coastal Zone in Zhangzhou Xiamen, 361005 China.
³ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Ecological Conservation and Restoration, Xiamen, 361005, China Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Ecological Conservation and Restoration Xiamen, 361005 China.
⁴ Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, 50603 Malaysia.
⁵ Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, 50603 Malaysia.
⁶ Marine Park and Resource Management Division, Department of Fisheries Malaysia, Putrajaya, 62628, Malaysia Marine Park and Resource Management Division, Department of Fisheries Malaysia Putrajaya, 62628 Malaysia.

Abstract

Background: 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.

New information: 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.

Keywords: Coral Fish Diversity Index; fish diversity; ichthyofauna; new record species.

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

Grants and funding

This study was supported by University of Malaya (UM) Top 100 Universities in The World Fund (TU001-2018), UM research grants IF030B-2017 Testing and analyzing partnership agreement regarding the partnership between the Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources of the People's Republic of China (TIO-MNR) and the Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya (IOES-UM). The China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund Project "China-ASEAN Marine Protected Areas Ecosystem Management Network" and "China-ASEAN Countries Collaboration on Marine Endangered Species", and the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No. 41676096 also contributed to this study.