Condition of Chaetodontidae fish based on living coral cover in Aceh Jaya Waters, Aceh Province

Abstract

Chaetodontidae is one of the fish families whose existence is important in coral reef ecosystems. This study aims to determine the condition of the Chaetodontidae fish and coral cover in the coral reef ecosystem area of Aceh Jaya District, Aceh Province. The study was conducted in March 2017 with 10 points of observasion location. Data retrieval is done using the visual census technique (VCT)-belt transect method to see the abundance of Chaetodontidae fish in the Point Intercept Transect (PIT) method to see coral cover. The result showed that the abundance of Chaetodontidae fish in the waters Aceh Jaya regency ranged from 187.5 to 5375 ind/ha. There ware 12 species of Chaetodontidae fish found, with the most species being Chaetodon Vagabundus, overall coral cover in the waters of Aceh Jaya regency ranged from 16.25 to 76.88% which was classified in the category of damaged to very good coral reef conditions. The results of the correlation analysis showed that the percentage of live cover had a weak and insignificant relationship with the abundance of Chaetodontidae fish. Not all locations have coral cover followed by high abundance of Chaetodontidae fish.