Fish communities from seagrass bed of Merchang Lagoon, Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia

A study on the fish communities of seagrass bed in Sungai Merchang (5°01'N and 103°19'E) Terengganu were carried out to investigate the number of species of fishes present in this selected mangrove associated seagrass beds. Sampling of fishes was carried out using 3-layered trammel nets and cast nets and was done at 2 hourly intervals for 24 hours. The seagrass bed's area is a brackishwater lagon about 2km^2, sheltered from the sea and experienced diurnal tidal movement. The bed is dominantly vegetated with Halophila ovalis and Halodule pinifolia. A total of 22 fish species belonging to 14 families were collected from the study area. Tetraodontidae, Siganidae and Leiognathidae were the dominant families and in term of species, Tetraodon nigroviridis (33.8%), Siganus guttatus (11.4%), Leiognathus equulus (10.3%) were the three most species gathered. Periodical sampling showed different sets of fish species between day and night catches. Most of the specimens captured were juveniles with size ranging from 5.2 to 17.4cm. The study forms part of the efforts taken by UPM in establishing the data base on diversity of fishes of seagrass ecosystem