CORAL RECRUITMENT ON REEF BALL STRUCTURES AT
THE BENETE BAY, SUMBAWA ISLAND, INDONESIA
Imam BACHTIAR*1, Windy PRAYOGO2
1Biology Education, Universitas Mataram, Mataram, Indonesia,
2Environment, PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, Mataram, Indonesia
Reef ball structure is a popular artificial reef that has been invested in
many countries. Publication on its efficacy in promoting coral
recruitment however remains lack of study or publication. This present
study is aimed to examine the pattern of coral recruitment on reef ball
structure at the Benete Bay of Sumbawa Island, Indonesia. Thirty big
size reef-balls were censuses after three years of deployment. All of
these structures were deployed on a sandy bottom location in a sheltered
bay. The results show that nearly all coral colonies grow on the vertical
surface and upper side of the reef balls. Recruit number varies among
depths, between 1-69 colonies per unit reef balls. Most recruits are
belonging to the Family Acroporidae, which contribute about 76% to the
whole recruitment. Branching acroporid is the most abundant colonies
(55%). Pocilloporidae and Faviidae both contribute about 9% to the total
recruitment, while Poritidae contributes about 3%. Other coral families
only has <1% contribution. The size of coral colonies growing on the
reef balls vary between 5-290 mm. Among the Acropora colonies 50%
are small size (diameter < 50 mm). The number of recruit on the ball is
very low at 10 meter depth (1-5 colonies per ball) that is likely to be
affected by sedimentation. Taxon of recruits does not proportionately
reflect taxon abundance on adjacent natural reef.
