Coral reef health : the relationship between Benthic coral cover and feeding behaviour of Chaetodon lunulatus in Indonesia

Abstract

The coral reefs located in Wakatobi National Park, Indonesia are being altered by varying factors involved in climate change. The functional ecology of a reef system includes the physiological processes and functions in the surrounding ecosystem. The thesis research focuses on observation of benthic coral structure as well as fish communities and feeding behaviour on coral in different reef structures The aim is to map the changing behaviours of the C. lunulatus feeding on different quality reefs on the island of Hoga, Indonesia within the six week span of research conducted. It was found that the Chaetodon lunulatus (Redfin Butterflyfish) did not have significantly different feeding strategies in relation to benthic coral cover however there were significant differences in their food preference (coral genus). Benthic coral cover significantly affected the reef complexity, Chaetodontidae abundance as well as Chaetodon lunulatus feeding behavior.