National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, Fisheries Building Complex, BPI Compound Visayas Avenue Brgy. Vasra, Quezon City, Philippines, 1128, Quezon City
Corresponding author
renalyne.acosta@nfrdi.da.gov.ph
The West Philippine Sea (WPS) is one of the identified biogeographic regions of the Philippines based on the biophysical attributes of its coral reef communities and has the highest biomass of reef fishes and species richness. From April to May 2022, coral reef assessment and fish visual census (FVC) through underwater surveys were conducted in nine sampling areas in the Kalayaan Island Group. A total of 19 dives in shallow water areas (SWR) and mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCE) were conducted. Sabina shoal has the highest percentage of coral cover in SWR, with an average of 35.66% and 30.62% in MCE. Moreover, the FVC results recorded 155 species from 28 families of reef fishes associated with live corals. The most dominant fish families are surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae), which shared 37%, followed by triggerfishes (Balistidae, 22%) and damselfishes (Pomacentridae, 10%). Among these, 76 species were found in Sabina Shoal. Species diversity of fishes revealed moderate to high diversity based on species richness, while the abundance was categorized as moderate to very high.