Page 101 - D:\Video IPSyoFS22\

Fish larval composition in the estuary and adjacent coastal waters of Kuala Terengganu

* 1,2
3
1 Jing Kai Ooi , Ying Giat Seah, Li Lian Wong

1 Faculty of Fisheries and Food Science, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus,
Terengganu, Malaysia.
2 South China Sea Repository and Reference Centre, Institute Oceanography and Environment,
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
3 Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu,
Malaysia

* Corresponding author: p3814@pps.umt.edu.my

Abstract:

Life history of fishes can be distinguished into five stages: egg, larval, juveniles, adult, and
senescence. The egg and larval stages are known as the early life history of fish and are referred to as
“ichthyoplankton”. Fish larvae have distinct morphology from the adults and hence ichthyoplankton
studies are challenging due to insufficient taxonomic knowledge. However, ichthyoplankton surveys
are valuable in understanding fish biology. It also can be a crucial tool for monitoring marine
ecosystems and fish communities. Therefore, the present survey was designed as preliminary study to
examine the fish larval composition in the Kuala Terengganu estuary and its adjacent coastal waters. A
100 μm mesh-sized Bongo net fitted with a flowmeter was employed and slowly towed by speedboat
for specimen collection during the day. Four different sites were set up covering the coastal waters
(Station 1 and Station 2), river mouth (Station 3) and estuary (Station 4) for sampling. A total of 402
larval samples were collected and identified up to family level using literature references available. A
total of 23 families were recognized, and the top three most abundant families are Gobiidae (19.65%
of total catch), Ambassidae (12.94% of total catch) and Apogonidae (12.10% of total catch). In
comparison, the river mouth of the Terengganu River recorded the highest fish larval density (140.89
-3
Indv. 100m ) among all studied sites. Meanwhile, the fish larval diversity was observed to be higher
in coastal water sites compared to the estuary and river mouth. According to fish larval occurrence
across different water bodies, the estuary seems to be an important site for several fish groups.
However, the present study alone was insufficient to provide full details on fish larval assemblages in
Kuala Terengganu and more surveys should be conducted in the future to increase the local fish larval
databases.

Keywords: Assemblage, Community Structure, Ichthyoplankton, Terengganu, Malaysia

1