Jeremy Kemp - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Jeremy Kemp
Sudan borders the western shore of the Red Sea, a sea recognised as being of global importance fo... more Sudan borders the western shore of the Red Sea, a sea recognised as being of global importance for marine biodiversity. A survey carried out during October / November 2007 provided the opportunity to assess the current status of the reefs, many of which have never previously been surveyed. Within the Sudanese Red Sea there is a pronounced biogeographical transition from reef communities that are characteristic of the northern Red Sea to those more representative of the southern Red Sea. Recreational and extractive use of resources is still moderately low however the condition of the reefs and the abundance of resources is highly variable. There are low abundances of several key families of commercial fin fish (particularly groupers and larger snappers) and invertebrate groups (particularly sea cucumbers and larger gastropod molluscs). There is also a conspicuous absence of sea urchins (Diadema spp. and Echinometra spp.) from many sites. The reefs of Sudan were impacted by previous coral bleaching events, although the extent of mortality was influenced by variability in community composition and local environmental conditions. The biogeographic trends within Sudanese waters and the variability in resource abundance and reef condition all have important implications for management planning.
SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN031088 / BLDSC - British Librar... more SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN031088 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo
The status of coral reefs and coral communities in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is generally good... more The status of coral reefs and coral communities in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is generally good, with coral cover averaging 20-50%. This includes decreases and increases in live coral cover since 2002. The 1998 bleaching event caused major damage on parts of the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, but caused no damage in the northern Red Sea; in some areas the recovery has been strong, and weak in others. Recent outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) have occurred in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and western Somalia, along with some local bleaching. Threats to coral reefs differ in the region, but are increasing with the increasing rate of coastal development. The major local threats include land fills, dredging, sedimentation, sewage discharge and effluents from desalination plants, mostly around towns, cities and tourist development sites. There is local reef damage around major tourism areas, caused by people and boat anchors, along with other threats. Fish populations are declining in some areas, because of increased demand for and fishing pressure on food and ornamental species. Destructive fishing practices such as trawling in fragile habitats is increasing. There has been an influx of illegal fishing vessels seeking to meet demands of the export market and more affluent and growing populations locally. The other major threats are from pollution and shipping accidents, and future bleaching. Monitoring these reefs is becoming increasingly important, as climate change and warmer waters near the limits for coral growth. Most countries have enacted national legislation for coral reef conservation, and signed multinational agreements with assistance from the Regional Organisation for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA). However, these laws are either poorly implemented or enforced and often are ignored completely. The main need is to enforce national and international laws, develop public awareness programs and adopt sustainable management strategies. This will require long-term strategies for capacity building. PERSGA developed a Strategic Action Program in 1998 and a Regional Action Plan in 2003 for reef
Journal of Biogeography, 1998
Fish communities and habitats were studied at the Socotra archipelago (Gulf of Aden, ≈12°N 54°E).... more Fish communities and habitats were studied at the Socotra archipelago (Gulf of Aden, ≈12°N 54°E). Extensive and unexpected hermatypic coral communities were recorded, at the centre of a 2200 km gap in knowledge of species and habitat distributions which coincides with a change from a western Indian Ocean coral reef fauna to an Arabian one. The fish assemblage associated with the Socotra archipelago corals is predominantly south Arabian. An east African influence, minimal on the mainland coasts of Arabia, is more evident here, and results in previously unrecorded sympatry between Arabian endemic species and their Indian Ocean sister taxa. A study of distributions of Chaetodontidae (butterflyfishes) in the north‐western Indian Ocean reveals a number of distinct patterns, with a trend for species replacement along a track from the northern Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. A major feature of the reef fish zoogeography of the region is found to be a distinct south Arabian area, characterized...
Sudan borders the western shore of the Red Sea, a sea recognised as being of global importance fo... more Sudan borders the western shore of the Red Sea, a sea recognised as being of global importance for marine biodiversity. A survey carried out during October / November 2007 provided the opportunity to assess the current status of the reefs, many of which have never previously been surveyed. Within the Sudanese Red Sea there is a pronounced biogeographical transition from reef communities that are characteristic of the northern Red Sea to those more representative of the southern Red Sea. Recreational and extractive use of resources is still moderately low however the condition of the reefs and the abundance of resources is highly variable. There are low abundances of several key families of commercial fin fish (particularly groupers and larger snappers) and invertebrate groups (particularly sea cucumbers and larger gastropod molluscs). There is also a conspicuous absence of sea urchins (Diadema spp. and Echinometra spp.) from many sites. The reefs of Sudan were impacted by previous coral bleaching events, although the extent of mortality was influenced by variability in community composition and local environmental conditions. The biogeographic trends within Sudanese waters and the variability in resource abundance and reef condition all have important implications for management planning.
Journal of Glass Studies, Jan 1, 2013
Environmental Biology of Fishes, 2002
Many shore-fish species are currently considered to have wide distributions; for example, perhaps... more Many shore-fish species are currently considered to have wide distributions; for example, perhaps as many as half of all Indo-Pacific reef-fish species have distributions that span or even extend beyond the Indo-West Pacific. However, wide distributions of some and perhaps many species may be an artefact, reflecting taxonomic practice and understanding. The reappraisal of widespread species represents a daunting task for taxonomists, particularly given the current trend of ever-reducing support for systematic ichthyology. Our poor understanding of widespread shore-fish species has serious implications for cladistic biogeographers, ecologists, fishery and conservation managers.
Journal of Biogeography, 1998
Fish communities and habitats were studied at the Socotra archipelago (Gulf of Aden, «12°N 54°E).... more Fish communities and habitats were studied at the Socotra archipelago (Gulf of Aden, «12°N 54°E). Extensive and unexpected hermatypic coral communities were recorded, at the centre of a 2200 km gap in knowledge of species and habitat distributions which coincides with a change from a western Indian Ocean coral reef fauna to an Arabian one. The fish assemblage associated with the Socotra archipelago corals is predominantly south Arabian, An east African influence, minimal on the mainland coasts of Arabia, is more evident here, and results in previously unrecorded sympatry between Arabian endemic species and their Indian Ocean sister taxa. A study of distributions of Chaetodontidae (butterflyfishes) in the north-western Indian Ocean reveals a number of distinct patterns, with a trend for species replacement along a track from the northern Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. A major feature of the reef fish zoogeography of the region is found to be a distinct south Arabian area, characterized by a 'pseudo-high latitude effect' which results from seasonal cold water upwelling along the Arabian sea coasts of Yemen and Oman and the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia. This south Arabian feature is consistent across a wide range of fish families. It is most pronounced in Oman and Yemen, and although it is the dominant influence at Socotra it is slightly 'diluted' here by the east African influence. The south Arabian area wholly or partly accounts for most of the major marine zoogeographic features around Arabia, and is the principal feature fragmenting Arabian coastal fish assemblages, and separating them from those of the wider Indo-west Pacific.
Fauna of Arabia Vol 18 pp67-86, Nov 30, 2000
Until recently coral communities throughout most of the Gulf of Aden were believed to be sparse, ... more Until recently coral communities throughout most of the Gulf of Aden were believed to be sparse, poorly developed and of little significance. Surveys carried out in the mid-1990s have begun to reveal that in fact extensive and high-cover scleractinian coral communities are widespread in the Gulf of Aden, and a s urvey along the northern shore in early 1998 found extensive scleractinian coral communities in all rocky coast areas surveyed. Percentage cover of living coral was highly variable at both deep and shallow sites in the 1998 survey, and the distribution of high-cover coral communities was very patchy, but in sheltered and moderately sheltered areas percentage cover frequently reached 50-100 % over distances of tens or hundreds of metres. Distributions of coral and macroalgal communities in the region appear to reflect pronounced clines in temperature and primary productivity associated with the western boundary of an annual upwelling of cold and nutrient-rich water which occurs on the Arabian Sea coast of Oman and eastern Yemen each summer. A conspicuous similarity between the coral communities of the northern Gulf of Aden and those of Oman, directly to the north-east, is the presence of large monospecific areas of Pocillopora, Montipora and other coral genera. Such monospecific areas are an important characteristic of coral communities spanning more than 2500 km of the Arabian coast, from the Musandam Peninsula almost to the Red Sea.
Fauna of Arabia Vol 18 pp357-367, Nov 30, 2000
AbstractrA study of reef fish communities of the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden coasts of Arabia ha... more AbstractrA study of reef fish communities of the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden coasts of Arabia has revealed the presence of a high proportion of hybrids between the two pomacanthid species Pomacanthus maculosus and P. sem icirculatus. These hybrids were only recorded along the northern shore of the eastern Gulf of Aden, in Hadramaut and Shabwa provinces of the Republic of Yemen, where they comprised 17.6 % and 0.8 %, respectively, of the total population of parent species and hybrids. The Ara bian distributions of the two parent species appear to be largely allopatric, and hybrids are generated in a s ympatric zone within which both parent species are relatively uncommon. The Arabian distribution pattern may arise from unusual oceanographic conditions in southern and eastern Arabia.
Fauna of Arabia Vol 18 pp293-321, Nov 30, 2000
A survey of the fish assemblages of Hadramaut and Shabwa provinces of the Republic of Yemen, in t... more A survey of the fish assemblages of Hadramaut and Shabwa provinces of the Republic of Yemen, in the north-east ern Gulf of Aden, reveals regionally high levels of diversity in some families of coral reef fishes, and striking local and regional species distribution patterns. The following species of fish are recorded for the first time from the coast of Arabia: Chaetodon trifasciatus, Chaetodon zanzibarensis, Halichoeres cosmetus, Thalassoma quinquevittatum, Ecsenius lineatus, Acanthurus leucocheilus and Acanthurus triostegus. A preliminary checklist of shallow coastal fishes of the north-eastern Gulf of Aden is provided, and a discussion of zoogeographic affinities of the species assemblage presented. A 'zoogeographically displaced' component of the northern Gulf of Aden fish community is almost entirely limited to a single small island, and may occur here because of complex . j I ^w>-^Lp ^ J k-iiLcl olijJ 294 J.M. KEMP SHEPPARD et al. 1992; RANDALL e t al. 1994; RANDALL & HOOVER 1 995), but the ichthyofauna of large areas of Arabian coast remains poorly known. The most conspicuous geographical gaps, where very little is known of shallow marine habitats and fish species distributions, are the entire Gulf of Aden (with the possible exception of Djibouti), the Arabian Sea coast of the Republic of Yemen between the Gulf of Aden and southern Oman, and both sides of the Red Sea to the south of the Farasan and Dahlak archipelagos (RANDALL 19 94, KEMP 1 998 b).
Botanica Marina, 1998
A range extension of Nizamuddinia zanardinii (Schiffner) P. C. Silva is reported. Previously only... more A range extension of Nizamuddinia zanardinii (Schiffner) P. C. Silva is reported. Previously only recorded from the Arabian Sea coasts of Oman and Yemen, and from Pakistan, a recent survey of the Socotra archipel ago has discovered extensive areas of this species on Socotra, and a small area on the island of Semha. This is the first record of any macroalga from the Socotra archipelago. Marked temporal differences in the growth cycles of the Arabian and Socotran populations of Nizamuddinia are described.
Journal of The Marine Biological Association of The United Kingdom, 1996
Patterns of variation in the assemblage structure of butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) of the Red ... more Patterns of variation in the assemblage structure of butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) of the Red Sea and western Indian Ocean have been compared. There is a lower number of species in the Red Sea, a high proportion of which are endemic to the region, both features that ...
Reports by Jeremy Kemp
The status of coral reefs and coral communities in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is generally good... more The status of coral reefs and coral communities in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is generally good, with coral cover averaging 20-50%. This includes decreases and increase in live coral cover since 2002. The 1998 bleaching event caused major damage on parts of the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, but caused no damage in the northern Red Sea; in some areas the recovery has been strong, and weak in others. Recent outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) have occurred in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and western Somalia, along with some local bleaching. Threats to coral reefs differ in the region, but are increasing with the increasing rate of coastal development. The major local threats include land fills, dredging, sedimentation, sewage discharge and effluents from desalination plants, mostly around towns, cities and tourist development sites. There is local reef damage around major tourism areas, caused by people and boat anchors, along with other threats. Fish populations are declining in some areas, because of increased demand for and fishing pressure on food and ornamental species. Destructive fishing practices such as trawling in fragile habitats is increasing. There has been an influx of illegal fishing vessels seeking to meet demands of the export market and more affluent and growing populations locally. The other major threats are from pollution and shipping accidents, and future bleaching. Monitoring these reefs is becoming increasingly important, as climate change and warmer waters near the limits for coral growth.
Most countries have enacted national legislation for coral reef conservation, and signed multinational agreements with assistance from the Regional Organisation for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA). However, these laws are either poorly implemented or enforced and often are ignored completely. The main need is to enforce national and international laws, develop public awareness programs and adopt sustainable management strategies. This will require long-term strategies for capacity building. PERSGA developed a Strategic Action Program in 1998 and a Regional Action Plan in 2003 for reef conservation. The plan aims to reduce impacts with: Integrated Coastal Management; Education and Awareness; Marine Protected Areas; Ecological Sustainable Reef Fisheries; Shipping and Marine Pollution control; and Research, Monitoring and Economic Valuation. Several major new MPAs are being developed in Djibouti, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen. Management of existing MPAs in a number of countries, including Egypt and Yemen, has improved, with support from the Global Environment Facility and bilateral donors. A UNDP/GEF Coastal, Marine and Island Biodiversity Project is starting in Eritrea.
100 years ago: Following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the region was a major international shipping route with occasional shipwrecks and related oil spills. There were invasions of alien species but damage from human activities was minimal. There were some artisanal fishers but fishing pressure was low and fish stocks were largely unexploited. The reefs were predominantly healthy.
In 1994: Most reefs were in good condition, with sustainable levels of fishing and low levels of human damage, except near towns, cities and tourist sites. Some reefs were affected by COTS outbreaks in the 1970s, and bleaching in the early 1990s.
In 2004: Urban growth, coastal land reclamation and fisheries are expanding, and COTS outbreaks are continuing. Tourism continues to expand in some countries, but not others. There has been strong recovery of some reefs badly damaged by the 1998 bleaching event, but others have shown no recovery. There has been some success in establishing MPAs, but there is no effective regional MPA network, and most of the declared MPAs have ineffective management.
Prediction for 2014: Pressure will increase from: major development for mass tourism and industrialisation; over-exploitation and destructive fishing in poorly managed fisheries; COTS outbreaks; and bleaching events. Over-exploitation of fish throughout much of the region will pose a more serious threat, unless regulations are strengthened and enforcement improved. Further large-scale bleaching events, like that of 1998, may prove catastrophic to stressed coral reefs in the Gulf of Aden and southern Red Sea. These impacts will probably lead to decreases in the health and extent of reefs, reduce their renewable goods and services, and lower natural recovery. However, many reefs in the region will remain healthy, particularly those remote from development or with strong currents or cool upwellings.
Thesis Chapters by Jeremy Kemp
Surveys of shallow sublittoral habitats and fish species in the southern Arabian region reveal th... more Surveys of shallow sublittoral habitats and fish species in the southern Arabian region reveal the widespread occurrence of extensive and well developed coral and 'coral reef' fish communities in a region where none were previously believed to occur.
The Gulf of Aden forms a complex biogeographic barrier between the Red Sea and Oman, and between the Red Sea and the wider Indian Ocean. This Gulf of Aden barrier may consist of several different features located between the southern Red Sea and the western edge of the Arabian Sea, each of which has some effect upon survival of species in, and dispersal through, the Gulf. The fish communities of the Gulf of Aden and Socotra archipelago are characteristically south Arabian but the Indian Ocean and Red Sea species assemblages overlap considerably in this region, with consequent widespread sympatry of sister taxa. The area of overlap between the Red Sea and Oman assemblages appears to be very narrow, and is the location of a pronounced hybrid zone in two species of angelfish which otherwise have largely allopatric Arabian distributions. Disjunct distributions are a major feature of Arabian marine zoogeography,and suggest that as yet unrecognised cryptic or sibling species may be common here.
The presence of a very localised 'zoogeographically displaced' fish community in the north-eastern Gulf of Aden suggests that post-dispersal influence of settlement site selection and / or post-settlement mortality on the very large scale distribution of tropical reef fishes may be more significant than previously believed.
There may be two main centres of origin of fish species within the Red Sea, and at least one more external to the Red Sea, but there is no apparent centre of origin within the Gulf of Aden. Dispersal subsequent to speciation in Arabian endemic fishes has been very limited, and it is unlikely that Arabian endemic fish with distributions which do not include a significant part of the Red Sea are of Red Sea origin.
The coral and 'coral reef' fish communities of southern Arabia raise questions about the nature of tropical reefs, coral reefs, coral communities, and the nature and distribution of biological diversity in the shallow waters of the Indo-west Pacific.
Until now the generally accepted view has been that coral communities in the Gulf of Aden are spa... more Until now the generally accepted view has been that coral communities in the Gulf of Aden are sparse, poorly developed and of little significance. Surveys carried out in the 1990s reveal that in fact well developed, extensive and diverse coral communities are widespread in the Gulf of Aden region. Scleractinian coral communities were found in areas of the Gulf of Aden and Socotra archipelago surveyed during two expeditions to the region in early 1996 and early 1998, although at very variable levels of coverage. The existence of these communities may be due to the fact that parts of the Socotra archipelago and most of the Gulf of Aden are much less severely affected by the cold waters of the Arabian Sea upwelling than had previously been believed. Macroalgae were much less dominant in the northern Gulf of Aden survey in 1998 than was expected, probably for similar reasons. Very large monospecific areas of several coral genera including Pocillopora, Montipora, Stylophora and Pavona are widespread throughout the northern Gulf of Aden, from Shabwa province in the east nearly to the Bab-al-Mandab in the west, and are thus an important characteristic of coral communities along almost 3,000km of the Arabian coast, from Musandam in the north almost to the Red Sea.
The striking coral communities of the Gulf of Aden have been overlooked until now for a range of reasons, principal among them being a lack of accessibility, and the fact that they do not conform to stereotypical concepts of coral reefs. The latter of these two points is related more to problems of perception and semantics than to biology, and does not reflect either the extent of these coral communities or their wider significance.
Sudan borders the western shore of the Red Sea, a sea recognised as being of global importance fo... more Sudan borders the western shore of the Red Sea, a sea recognised as being of global importance for marine biodiversity. A survey carried out during October / November 2007 provided the opportunity to assess the current status of the reefs, many of which have never previously been surveyed. Within the Sudanese Red Sea there is a pronounced biogeographical transition from reef communities that are characteristic of the northern Red Sea to those more representative of the southern Red Sea. Recreational and extractive use of resources is still moderately low however the condition of the reefs and the abundance of resources is highly variable. There are low abundances of several key families of commercial fin fish (particularly groupers and larger snappers) and invertebrate groups (particularly sea cucumbers and larger gastropod molluscs). There is also a conspicuous absence of sea urchins (Diadema spp. and Echinometra spp.) from many sites. The reefs of Sudan were impacted by previous coral bleaching events, although the extent of mortality was influenced by variability in community composition and local environmental conditions. The biogeographic trends within Sudanese waters and the variability in resource abundance and reef condition all have important implications for management planning.
SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN031088 / BLDSC - British Librar... more SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN031088 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo
The status of coral reefs and coral communities in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is generally good... more The status of coral reefs and coral communities in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is generally good, with coral cover averaging 20-50%. This includes decreases and increases in live coral cover since 2002. The 1998 bleaching event caused major damage on parts of the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, but caused no damage in the northern Red Sea; in some areas the recovery has been strong, and weak in others. Recent outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) have occurred in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and western Somalia, along with some local bleaching. Threats to coral reefs differ in the region, but are increasing with the increasing rate of coastal development. The major local threats include land fills, dredging, sedimentation, sewage discharge and effluents from desalination plants, mostly around towns, cities and tourist development sites. There is local reef damage around major tourism areas, caused by people and boat anchors, along with other threats. Fish populations are declining in some areas, because of increased demand for and fishing pressure on food and ornamental species. Destructive fishing practices such as trawling in fragile habitats is increasing. There has been an influx of illegal fishing vessels seeking to meet demands of the export market and more affluent and growing populations locally. The other major threats are from pollution and shipping accidents, and future bleaching. Monitoring these reefs is becoming increasingly important, as climate change and warmer waters near the limits for coral growth. Most countries have enacted national legislation for coral reef conservation, and signed multinational agreements with assistance from the Regional Organisation for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA). However, these laws are either poorly implemented or enforced and often are ignored completely. The main need is to enforce national and international laws, develop public awareness programs and adopt sustainable management strategies. This will require long-term strategies for capacity building. PERSGA developed a Strategic Action Program in 1998 and a Regional Action Plan in 2003 for reef
Journal of Biogeography, 1998
Fish communities and habitats were studied at the Socotra archipelago (Gulf of Aden, ≈12°N 54°E).... more Fish communities and habitats were studied at the Socotra archipelago (Gulf of Aden, ≈12°N 54°E). Extensive and unexpected hermatypic coral communities were recorded, at the centre of a 2200 km gap in knowledge of species and habitat distributions which coincides with a change from a western Indian Ocean coral reef fauna to an Arabian one. The fish assemblage associated with the Socotra archipelago corals is predominantly south Arabian. An east African influence, minimal on the mainland coasts of Arabia, is more evident here, and results in previously unrecorded sympatry between Arabian endemic species and their Indian Ocean sister taxa. A study of distributions of Chaetodontidae (butterflyfishes) in the north‐western Indian Ocean reveals a number of distinct patterns, with a trend for species replacement along a track from the northern Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. A major feature of the reef fish zoogeography of the region is found to be a distinct south Arabian area, characterized...
Sudan borders the western shore of the Red Sea, a sea recognised as being of global importance fo... more Sudan borders the western shore of the Red Sea, a sea recognised as being of global importance for marine biodiversity. A survey carried out during October / November 2007 provided the opportunity to assess the current status of the reefs, many of which have never previously been surveyed. Within the Sudanese Red Sea there is a pronounced biogeographical transition from reef communities that are characteristic of the northern Red Sea to those more representative of the southern Red Sea. Recreational and extractive use of resources is still moderately low however the condition of the reefs and the abundance of resources is highly variable. There are low abundances of several key families of commercial fin fish (particularly groupers and larger snappers) and invertebrate groups (particularly sea cucumbers and larger gastropod molluscs). There is also a conspicuous absence of sea urchins (Diadema spp. and Echinometra spp.) from many sites. The reefs of Sudan were impacted by previous coral bleaching events, although the extent of mortality was influenced by variability in community composition and local environmental conditions. The biogeographic trends within Sudanese waters and the variability in resource abundance and reef condition all have important implications for management planning.
Journal of Glass Studies, Jan 1, 2013
Environmental Biology of Fishes, 2002
Many shore-fish species are currently considered to have wide distributions; for example, perhaps... more Many shore-fish species are currently considered to have wide distributions; for example, perhaps as many as half of all Indo-Pacific reef-fish species have distributions that span or even extend beyond the Indo-West Pacific. However, wide distributions of some and perhaps many species may be an artefact, reflecting taxonomic practice and understanding. The reappraisal of widespread species represents a daunting task for taxonomists, particularly given the current trend of ever-reducing support for systematic ichthyology. Our poor understanding of widespread shore-fish species has serious implications for cladistic biogeographers, ecologists, fishery and conservation managers.
Journal of Biogeography, 1998
Fish communities and habitats were studied at the Socotra archipelago (Gulf of Aden, «12°N 54°E).... more Fish communities and habitats were studied at the Socotra archipelago (Gulf of Aden, «12°N 54°E). Extensive and unexpected hermatypic coral communities were recorded, at the centre of a 2200 km gap in knowledge of species and habitat distributions which coincides with a change from a western Indian Ocean coral reef fauna to an Arabian one. The fish assemblage associated with the Socotra archipelago corals is predominantly south Arabian, An east African influence, minimal on the mainland coasts of Arabia, is more evident here, and results in previously unrecorded sympatry between Arabian endemic species and their Indian Ocean sister taxa. A study of distributions of Chaetodontidae (butterflyfishes) in the north-western Indian Ocean reveals a number of distinct patterns, with a trend for species replacement along a track from the northern Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. A major feature of the reef fish zoogeography of the region is found to be a distinct south Arabian area, characterized by a 'pseudo-high latitude effect' which results from seasonal cold water upwelling along the Arabian sea coasts of Yemen and Oman and the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia. This south Arabian feature is consistent across a wide range of fish families. It is most pronounced in Oman and Yemen, and although it is the dominant influence at Socotra it is slightly 'diluted' here by the east African influence. The south Arabian area wholly or partly accounts for most of the major marine zoogeographic features around Arabia, and is the principal feature fragmenting Arabian coastal fish assemblages, and separating them from those of the wider Indo-west Pacific.
Fauna of Arabia Vol 18 pp67-86, Nov 30, 2000
Until recently coral communities throughout most of the Gulf of Aden were believed to be sparse, ... more Until recently coral communities throughout most of the Gulf of Aden were believed to be sparse, poorly developed and of little significance. Surveys carried out in the mid-1990s have begun to reveal that in fact extensive and high-cover scleractinian coral communities are widespread in the Gulf of Aden, and a s urvey along the northern shore in early 1998 found extensive scleractinian coral communities in all rocky coast areas surveyed. Percentage cover of living coral was highly variable at both deep and shallow sites in the 1998 survey, and the distribution of high-cover coral communities was very patchy, but in sheltered and moderately sheltered areas percentage cover frequently reached 50-100 % over distances of tens or hundreds of metres. Distributions of coral and macroalgal communities in the region appear to reflect pronounced clines in temperature and primary productivity associated with the western boundary of an annual upwelling of cold and nutrient-rich water which occurs on the Arabian Sea coast of Oman and eastern Yemen each summer. A conspicuous similarity between the coral communities of the northern Gulf of Aden and those of Oman, directly to the north-east, is the presence of large monospecific areas of Pocillopora, Montipora and other coral genera. Such monospecific areas are an important characteristic of coral communities spanning more than 2500 km of the Arabian coast, from the Musandam Peninsula almost to the Red Sea.
Fauna of Arabia Vol 18 pp357-367, Nov 30, 2000
AbstractrA study of reef fish communities of the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden coasts of Arabia ha... more AbstractrA study of reef fish communities of the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden coasts of Arabia has revealed the presence of a high proportion of hybrids between the two pomacanthid species Pomacanthus maculosus and P. sem icirculatus. These hybrids were only recorded along the northern shore of the eastern Gulf of Aden, in Hadramaut and Shabwa provinces of the Republic of Yemen, where they comprised 17.6 % and 0.8 %, respectively, of the total population of parent species and hybrids. The Ara bian distributions of the two parent species appear to be largely allopatric, and hybrids are generated in a s ympatric zone within which both parent species are relatively uncommon. The Arabian distribution pattern may arise from unusual oceanographic conditions in southern and eastern Arabia.
Fauna of Arabia Vol 18 pp293-321, Nov 30, 2000
A survey of the fish assemblages of Hadramaut and Shabwa provinces of the Republic of Yemen, in t... more A survey of the fish assemblages of Hadramaut and Shabwa provinces of the Republic of Yemen, in the north-east ern Gulf of Aden, reveals regionally high levels of diversity in some families of coral reef fishes, and striking local and regional species distribution patterns. The following species of fish are recorded for the first time from the coast of Arabia: Chaetodon trifasciatus, Chaetodon zanzibarensis, Halichoeres cosmetus, Thalassoma quinquevittatum, Ecsenius lineatus, Acanthurus leucocheilus and Acanthurus triostegus. A preliminary checklist of shallow coastal fishes of the north-eastern Gulf of Aden is provided, and a discussion of zoogeographic affinities of the species assemblage presented. A 'zoogeographically displaced' component of the northern Gulf of Aden fish community is almost entirely limited to a single small island, and may occur here because of complex . j I ^w>-^Lp ^ J k-iiLcl olijJ 294 J.M. KEMP SHEPPARD et al. 1992; RANDALL e t al. 1994; RANDALL & HOOVER 1 995), but the ichthyofauna of large areas of Arabian coast remains poorly known. The most conspicuous geographical gaps, where very little is known of shallow marine habitats and fish species distributions, are the entire Gulf of Aden (with the possible exception of Djibouti), the Arabian Sea coast of the Republic of Yemen between the Gulf of Aden and southern Oman, and both sides of the Red Sea to the south of the Farasan and Dahlak archipelagos (RANDALL 19 94, KEMP 1 998 b).
Botanica Marina, 1998
A range extension of Nizamuddinia zanardinii (Schiffner) P. C. Silva is reported. Previously only... more A range extension of Nizamuddinia zanardinii (Schiffner) P. C. Silva is reported. Previously only recorded from the Arabian Sea coasts of Oman and Yemen, and from Pakistan, a recent survey of the Socotra archipel ago has discovered extensive areas of this species on Socotra, and a small area on the island of Semha. This is the first record of any macroalga from the Socotra archipelago. Marked temporal differences in the growth cycles of the Arabian and Socotran populations of Nizamuddinia are described.
Journal of The Marine Biological Association of The United Kingdom, 1996
Patterns of variation in the assemblage structure of butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) of the Red ... more Patterns of variation in the assemblage structure of butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) of the Red Sea and western Indian Ocean have been compared. There is a lower number of species in the Red Sea, a high proportion of which are endemic to the region, both features that ...
The status of coral reefs and coral communities in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is generally good... more The status of coral reefs and coral communities in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is generally good, with coral cover averaging 20-50%. This includes decreases and increase in live coral cover since 2002. The 1998 bleaching event caused major damage on parts of the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, but caused no damage in the northern Red Sea; in some areas the recovery has been strong, and weak in others. Recent outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) have occurred in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and western Somalia, along with some local bleaching. Threats to coral reefs differ in the region, but are increasing with the increasing rate of coastal development. The major local threats include land fills, dredging, sedimentation, sewage discharge and effluents from desalination plants, mostly around towns, cities and tourist development sites. There is local reef damage around major tourism areas, caused by people and boat anchors, along with other threats. Fish populations are declining in some areas, because of increased demand for and fishing pressure on food and ornamental species. Destructive fishing practices such as trawling in fragile habitats is increasing. There has been an influx of illegal fishing vessels seeking to meet demands of the export market and more affluent and growing populations locally. The other major threats are from pollution and shipping accidents, and future bleaching. Monitoring these reefs is becoming increasingly important, as climate change and warmer waters near the limits for coral growth.
Most countries have enacted national legislation for coral reef conservation, and signed multinational agreements with assistance from the Regional Organisation for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA). However, these laws are either poorly implemented or enforced and often are ignored completely. The main need is to enforce national and international laws, develop public awareness programs and adopt sustainable management strategies. This will require long-term strategies for capacity building. PERSGA developed a Strategic Action Program in 1998 and a Regional Action Plan in 2003 for reef conservation. The plan aims to reduce impacts with: Integrated Coastal Management; Education and Awareness; Marine Protected Areas; Ecological Sustainable Reef Fisheries; Shipping and Marine Pollution control; and Research, Monitoring and Economic Valuation. Several major new MPAs are being developed in Djibouti, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen. Management of existing MPAs in a number of countries, including Egypt and Yemen, has improved, with support from the Global Environment Facility and bilateral donors. A UNDP/GEF Coastal, Marine and Island Biodiversity Project is starting in Eritrea.
100 years ago: Following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the region was a major international shipping route with occasional shipwrecks and related oil spills. There were invasions of alien species but damage from human activities was minimal. There were some artisanal fishers but fishing pressure was low and fish stocks were largely unexploited. The reefs were predominantly healthy.
In 1994: Most reefs were in good condition, with sustainable levels of fishing and low levels of human damage, except near towns, cities and tourist sites. Some reefs were affected by COTS outbreaks in the 1970s, and bleaching in the early 1990s.
In 2004: Urban growth, coastal land reclamation and fisheries are expanding, and COTS outbreaks are continuing. Tourism continues to expand in some countries, but not others. There has been strong recovery of some reefs badly damaged by the 1998 bleaching event, but others have shown no recovery. There has been some success in establishing MPAs, but there is no effective regional MPA network, and most of the declared MPAs have ineffective management.
Prediction for 2014: Pressure will increase from: major development for mass tourism and industrialisation; over-exploitation and destructive fishing in poorly managed fisheries; COTS outbreaks; and bleaching events. Over-exploitation of fish throughout much of the region will pose a more serious threat, unless regulations are strengthened and enforcement improved. Further large-scale bleaching events, like that of 1998, may prove catastrophic to stressed coral reefs in the Gulf of Aden and southern Red Sea. These impacts will probably lead to decreases in the health and extent of reefs, reduce their renewable goods and services, and lower natural recovery. However, many reefs in the region will remain healthy, particularly those remote from development or with strong currents or cool upwellings.
Surveys of shallow sublittoral habitats and fish species in the southern Arabian region reveal th... more Surveys of shallow sublittoral habitats and fish species in the southern Arabian region reveal the widespread occurrence of extensive and well developed coral and 'coral reef' fish communities in a region where none were previously believed to occur.
The Gulf of Aden forms a complex biogeographic barrier between the Red Sea and Oman, and between the Red Sea and the wider Indian Ocean. This Gulf of Aden barrier may consist of several different features located between the southern Red Sea and the western edge of the Arabian Sea, each of which has some effect upon survival of species in, and dispersal through, the Gulf. The fish communities of the Gulf of Aden and Socotra archipelago are characteristically south Arabian but the Indian Ocean and Red Sea species assemblages overlap considerably in this region, with consequent widespread sympatry of sister taxa. The area of overlap between the Red Sea and Oman assemblages appears to be very narrow, and is the location of a pronounced hybrid zone in two species of angelfish which otherwise have largely allopatric Arabian distributions. Disjunct distributions are a major feature of Arabian marine zoogeography,and suggest that as yet unrecognised cryptic or sibling species may be common here.
The presence of a very localised 'zoogeographically displaced' fish community in the north-eastern Gulf of Aden suggests that post-dispersal influence of settlement site selection and / or post-settlement mortality on the very large scale distribution of tropical reef fishes may be more significant than previously believed.
There may be two main centres of origin of fish species within the Red Sea, and at least one more external to the Red Sea, but there is no apparent centre of origin within the Gulf of Aden. Dispersal subsequent to speciation in Arabian endemic fishes has been very limited, and it is unlikely that Arabian endemic fish with distributions which do not include a significant part of the Red Sea are of Red Sea origin.
The coral and 'coral reef' fish communities of southern Arabia raise questions about the nature of tropical reefs, coral reefs, coral communities, and the nature and distribution of biological diversity in the shallow waters of the Indo-west Pacific.
Until now the generally accepted view has been that coral communities in the Gulf of Aden are spa... more Until now the generally accepted view has been that coral communities in the Gulf of Aden are sparse, poorly developed and of little significance. Surveys carried out in the 1990s reveal that in fact well developed, extensive and diverse coral communities are widespread in the Gulf of Aden region. Scleractinian coral communities were found in areas of the Gulf of Aden and Socotra archipelago surveyed during two expeditions to the region in early 1996 and early 1998, although at very variable levels of coverage. The existence of these communities may be due to the fact that parts of the Socotra archipelago and most of the Gulf of Aden are much less severely affected by the cold waters of the Arabian Sea upwelling than had previously been believed. Macroalgae were much less dominant in the northern Gulf of Aden survey in 1998 than was expected, probably for similar reasons. Very large monospecific areas of several coral genera including Pocillopora, Montipora, Stylophora and Pavona are widespread throughout the northern Gulf of Aden, from Shabwa province in the east nearly to the Bab-al-Mandab in the west, and are thus an important characteristic of coral communities along almost 3,000km of the Arabian coast, from Musandam in the north almost to the Red Sea.
The striking coral communities of the Gulf of Aden have been overlooked until now for a range of reasons, principal among them being a lack of accessibility, and the fact that they do not conform to stereotypical concepts of coral reefs. The latter of these two points is related more to problems of perception and semantics than to biology, and does not reflect either the extent of these coral communities or their wider significance.
A study of butterflyfish and angelfish species distributions and abundances in southern Arabia an... more A study of butterflyfish and angelfish species distributions and abundances in southern Arabia and the Red Sea reveal that there are two centres of abundance within the Red Sea,separated by a vicariate barrier between the southern and central parts of that sea. Arabian endemic species with centres of abundance to the north of this barrier tend to be true Red Sea endemics, while those with centres of abundance in the southern Red Sea extend their ranges throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The Red Sea assemblages are very distinct from those characteristic of the southern Arabian region, which extends throughout the Gulf of Aden and Socotra archipelago, and extends north-east along the Arabian Sea coast to Ras al Hadd. The southern Arabian assemblage may not have a localised Arabian origin, having originated throughout the region, although a smaller but clearly identifiable centre of endemism is present on the Arabian Sea coast of Oman. Arabian endemic fish species with a broad Arabian distribution may have an origin not restricted to a single part of Arabian seas.
The relationships between abundance, frequency of occurrence and range-size in Arabian butterflyf... more The relationships between abundance, frequency of occurrence and range-size in Arabian butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) reveal that in all regions of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and southern Oman the most abundant species are restricted-range endemics. Widespread Indo-west Pacific butterflyfish species occurring in Arabian seas are all relatively rare. The relationship between abundance and frequency of occurrence in Arabian butterflyfishes is positive, but that between abundance and total range size is negative. Frequency of occurrence and and species range size are fundamentally different aspects of butterflyfish species distributions. Trophic specialisation and resource availability are important factors determining abundance and frequency of occurrence at a regional scale, but do not appear to be relevant to total range size. Inside the Red Sea, where coral communities are almost ubiquitous in shallow coastal waters, the most abundant species are without exception obligate corallivores, but in the Gulf of Aden and southern Oman, where benthic community types are more variable, corallivores dominate coral-rich areas and generalists dominate less coral-rich areas. Frequency of occurrence is probably determined by similar factors, with highest frequency of occurrence inside the Red Sea being by corallivores, and in the Gulf of Aden region by generalist species. There are both similarities and differences between abundance, frequency of occurrence and range size relationships of Arabian butterflyfish assemblages and those of an Indonesian assemblage. These differences probably relate to their contrasting biogeographic positions, Arabia being peripheral to the Indo-west Pacific and Indonesia being in the Indo-west Pacific centre of marine biological diversity.