An inter-site study of biofouling recruitment on static immersion panels in major ports of South East Asia and India

Limited knowledge of native marine biodiversity hinders effective biodiversity management to safeguard South and Southeast Asia’s marine coastal environment against the threat of invasive species transfer through shipping. In particular, sessile marine biofouling organisms in South East Asian ports are poorly known. Through the support of the ASEAN-India Cooperation Project on the Extent of Transfer of Alien Invasive Organisms in South/South East Asia Region by Shipping, a coordinated effort to examine diversity of biofouling organisms in major port areas in Southeast Asia and India was made using polyvinylchloride (PVC) panels as recruitment surfaces in a static immersion study for a period of 12 months. Not surprisingly, the study revealed that fouling patterns differed between ports possibly as a result of dissimilar hydrographic conditions. However, there were also underlying similarities that reflected a regional uniformity in the composition of fouling communities. At the same time, the alien Caribbean bivalve Mytilopsis sallei was detected in Manila Bay (Philippines), Songkhla Port (Thailand) and Singapore. This is a first simultaneous biofouling survey involving scientists and government stakeholders from India and ASEAN nations of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam

Beneath 50 m of NW Pacific water: Coral reefs on the Benham Bank Seamount off the Philippine Sea

The benthic habitats on the Philippine (Benham) Rise were unknown until the joint University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UPMSI)/University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)/Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) cruise of May 2014 when extensive coral reefs were discovered on the summit of the Benham Bank Seamount. Short observational surveys of five stations at depths up to 55 m revealed that the reefs were pristine and with excellent cover mostly by tiered, thick, rigid and foliose plate-forming Porites (Synaraea) rus. The voucher specimen collections indicated that there are at least 11 reef-building and two solitary coral species in the reef communities. The fish visual census and random hook-and-line fishing surveys recorded 62 species, 16 of which were reef health indicators and the rest were commercially exploited species. These short surveys yielded the first records of mesophotic coral reef biodiversity on the Benham Bank, albeit incomplete, and point to the inevitable requisite of further exploring these pristine reefs and their associated benthic habitats, since this Philippine natural heritage serves as an important area for fisheries. © 2017, University of the Philippines Los Banos. All rights reserved