caa a22 4500 605527326 CHVBK 20210128100807.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150901xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10531-015-0938-0 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10531-015-0938-0 Species richness and abundance of non-cryptic fish species in the Philippines: a global center of reef fish diversity [Elektronische Daten] [Kevin Go, Jonathan Anticamara, Justin de Ramos, Saula Gabona, Daizy Agao, Ebenezer Hererra, Arselene Bitara] The Philippines is dubbed the ‘global center of marine biodiversity' for having the greatest number of reef fish species per unit area in the world, mainly based on analysis of museum collections. However, to date, there is no national assessment of the status of Philippine reef fish species based on species abundance and distribution. We conducted underwater visual census belt transect surveys of all non-cryptic reef fish, to explore spatial trends in fish biodiversity and to assess the national status of Philippine reef fish species. We found that most places in the Philippines still hold high numbers of non-cryptic reef fish species, with 54% of the surveyed transects having ≥22 reef fish species per 100m2. However, only 13% of all recorded species had high abundances (≥0.81 individuals per 100m2) and wide distributions (≥291,964km2) (category A species), while 33% had either low abundances or restricted distributions (category B species), and 54% exhibited both low abundances and restricted distributions (category C species). In addition, 97% of the large-bodied species (maximum TL>30.1cm) were assigned to category B or C—a matter of concern, since 47% of the recorded large-bodied species in our study are food-fish. The findings of our study present the most recent (2012-2013) national assessment for all non-cryptic reef fish species using standardized methods, and highlight the need for conservation action for many Philippine reef fish species, upon which many Filipinos derive benefits such as food, income, livelihood, and recreation. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 2015 Biodiversity nationallicence Coral reefs nationallicence Conservation nationallicence Marine reserves nationallicence Philippine reefs nationallicence Species assessment nationallicence Go Kevin Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1101, Quezon City, Philippines aut Anticamara Jonathan Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1101, Quezon City, Philippines aut de Ramos Justin Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1101, Quezon City, Philippines aut Gabona Saula University of Eastern Philippines, 6400, Catarman, Samar, Philippines aut Agao Daizy Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1101, Quezon City, Philippines aut Hererra Ebenezer Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1101, Quezon City, Philippines aut Bitara Arselene Palawan State University, 5300, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines aut Biodiversity and Conservation Springer Netherlands 24/10(2015-09-01), 2475-2495 0960-3115 24:10<2475 2015 24 10531 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0938-0 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0938-0 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Go Kevin Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1101, Quezon City, Philippines aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Anticamara Jonathan Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1101, Quezon City, Philippines aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- de Ramos Justin Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1101, Quezon City, Philippines aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Gabona Saula University of Eastern Philippines, 6400, Catarman, Samar, Philippines aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Agao Daizy Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1101, Quezon City, Philippines aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Hererra Ebenezer Institute of Biology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 1101, Quezon City, Philippines aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Bitara Arselene Palawan State University, 5300, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Biodiversity and Conservation Springer Netherlands 24/10(2015-09-01), 2475-2495 0960-3115 24:10<2475 2015 24 10531