Study of biotic communities for artificial reef placement in Hormuzgan Province waters, the Persian Gulf

Authors

Abstract

Persian Gulf waters (Hormuzgan Province) were studied from seasonally to determine the
best locations for installation of artificial reefs. The area was stratified for 10 transects and
each transect was divided into three stations: Station 1 for waters below 10m, station 2 for
waters between 10 and 20m and station 3 for waters between 20 and 30m deep. Habitats of
fauna and flora including communities of corals, seaweeds, sea cucumbers and sea grasses
and sedimentation depth through scuba diving were studied in each transect and sub-transects.
Sea grass communities existed in some spots within station 1 in Bandar Mesan, Bandar
Lengeh, Kish Island and Bandar Chirooyeh transects, while for station 2, sea grasses were
absent from Chirooyeh transect and present in Bandar Mesan, Bandar Kong and Kish Island
transects. Also, seaweed habitats existed in station 1 in Bandar Mesan transect and some areas
in Bandar Lengeh transect. Study of coral and sea cucumber communities indicated existence
of Acropora sp. habitats in Bahman jetty, Bandar Mesan and Bandar Bostaneh transects,
Porites sp. habitat in Hengam Island transect, Holothuria sp. habitats in Bandar Mesan and
Bandar Lengeh transects and Stichopus sp. habitat in Hengam Island transect. All of these
habitats were located in station 1 and had patchy distribution which was drawn in GIS
software. Calculated sedimentation depth using degree scale in different transects
demonstrated statistically significant differences between station 1 in Bandar Salakh transect
and the same stations in other transects, also between station 2 and station 3 in other transects
(P

Keywords

Iranian Scientific Fisheries Journal
Volume 20, Issue 2
March and April 2011
Pages 9-16

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics