Zooplankton communities in Cenderawasih Bay National Park, West Papua: can their composition be used to predict whale shark Rhincodon typus Smith, 1828 appearance frequencies?

2nd International Symposium on Marine and Fisheries Research

地球科学;农业科学

Marliana, S.N.^1 ; Bataona, M.^1 ; Ihsan, E.N.^2

Department of Ecology and Conservation, Faculty of Biology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jalan Teknika Selatan, Sekip Utara Yogyakarta

55281, Indonesia^1

WWF Indonesia Site Cenderawasih Bay National Park, Jalan Huntap Iriati 2 Lorong 1, Sebelah-Kiri-Teluk-Wondama-West-Papua

98362, Indonesia^2

关键词: Compositional variation;    Eco-tourism areas;    Feeding habits;    Food sources;    National parks;    Sampling stations;    Zooplankton communities;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/139/1/012012/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1755-1315/139/1/012012

学科分类：农业科学（综合）

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

The use of lift net fishing vessels in Cenderawasih Bay National Park (CBNP) along with the increased popularity of CBNP as an ecotourism area is suspected to have an impact on the behavior and population of its whale sharks Rhincodon typus Smith, 1828. The differing frequency of whale shark appearances along the waters of CBNP has been alleged to be related to the distribution of the whale sharks' food sources, one of which is zooplankton. This preliminary research aimed to investigate the composition of the zooplankton community in CBNP based on distance from the coast and difference in locations, and to use the pattern of zooplankton compositional variation as a basis for indication of the frequency of whale shark appearances. There were clear differences in the composition and diversity of zooplankton communities among sampling stations, but these differences were not strong enough to infer the cause of the different whale shark appearance frequencies in different locations. Nevertheless, the waters of CBNP had an equal availability of zooplankton for whale sharks. With the increasing popularity of whale shark tourism, understanding the species' feeding habits is critical to the sustainability of both the industry and the enigmatic species on which it depends.