Description of the book :
Two oil rig structures of different sizes (TK1 and TK2) were the first rig-toreef (R2R) artificial reefs (ARs) programme in Peninsular Malaysia, deployed off Pulau Kapas, Terengganu, in 2016. Therefore, any information collected on marine resources, especially fish community structure, is very valuable. This study also aims to assess ARs as an enhancement device for fish resources regarding their biodiversity and occurrence.
The survey was conducted using Stationary Underwater Videography (SUV) and Underwater Visual Census (UVC) methods in April, July and October 2019. A total of 85,699 individuals were counted, with relatively higher fish occurrence in TK1 (45,140 individuals) than in TK2 (40,529 individuals). As many as 21 families, 30 genera and 43 fish species were identified, with 23 species recorded at TK1 and 27 species in TK2. The number of species was higher in the family Lutjanidae (snappers – 6 species) than in the other families (≤ 4). Lutjanus lutjanus (bigeye snapper) was the most abundant (TK1 – 71% of the total number of fish, TK2 – 52%), followed by Lutjanus vitta (Brownstripe red snapper) (TK1 – 1%, TK2 – 28%) and Pterocaesio chrysozona (Goldband fusilier) (TK1 – 15%, TK2 – 9%).
