OBSERVING REEF FISHES:

FISH VISUAL CENSUS 6

Definition
Fish visual census is the identi-
fication and counting of fishes
observed within a defined area.

Purpose
Fish visual census can be used
to estimate the variety,
numbers, and even sizes of
common, easily-seen, easily-
identified fishes in areas of
good visibility. This information
may reflect the health of the
fish stocks within the surveyed
coral reef areas.

Requirements
q Picture book of the animals (e.g.
reef fishes) to be counted
q Goggles or mask and snorkel
q One or two 50-m lines each
marked every 5 m
q Underwater slates with attached
pencil
(Optional
q Boat (depending on where the
survey site is)
q Laminated fish identification guide
(if observers are not familiar with
the various fish types)
q Laminated butterflyfish identifica-
tion guide (if indicator species are
to be censused)
q Fins
q Life jackets

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 Select the sampling stations and Copy the Data Form 5A onto the
1 fish types to be censused. slates and draw columns for the 2
different size classes.

For each of the stations, do steps 2 to 6.

Lay the transect line on a constant Wait 10-15 minutes for the disturbed
3 depth contour. Record the depth. fishes to return. Be careful not to 4
disturb the fishes during the
census.

Starting at one end of the line, each observer floats on each side of the
5 transect line while observing 5-m to his/her side of the transect and forward
until the next 5-m mark.

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 Both observers swim to and stop every 5-m along the line to record the
6 counts of fish per size class until the transect is completed. Generally, the
faster moving fishes are counted before the slower moving fishes are counted.
Each transect covers an area of 500 m2 (50 m x 10 m width). Total counts
on both sides and transcribe onto Data Form 5A.

Classify the various transects according to your purpose for data

7 summarization. For example: * reef zones or types (e.g. reef flat, reef
slope, fringing reef, offshore reef,
etc.),
* time of sampling (e.g. year 1/dry
season, year 1/wet season, year 2/dry
season, etc.)
* management or use zones (e.g.
sanctuary, fishing grounds), and/or
* intensity of impacts (e.g. high pollution,
medium pollution, low pollution)
List the transects by groups along the
upper portion of the Summary Form.
List the fish groups or fish types (by groups) along the left side of
8 the Summary Form.

41
 Total the counts of the different size Write these sub-totals onto the
9 classes for each type of fish per appropriate boxes on a copy of 10
transect. the summary form.
Right
Left

Sum sub-totals for each fish type/ Standardize the sub-total by

11 group for each transect group. sample size: Divide the total 12
counts by the number of transects
actually observed.

Example:
12 + 11 + 5 + 3 + 5 = 7 fishes/transect
5 transects
Choose a few fish types of interest List the zone/sector, month, and
13 and list these along the left side year on the designated space on 14
of the Fish Graphing Form. the form.

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 Use the following guide to represent the average number of fishes observed
15 in each zone/sector and month/year.
NUMBER OF FISHES PICTOGRAPH

>0-5
>5-25
>25-125
>125-625
>625

Strengths
ΠUseful
species
for simultaneously censusing many

 Can also be used for other organisms like

crown-of-thorns starfish and urchins.

ŒOnly the shallower depths (upper 3-7 m

[15-20 ft] depending on visibility) may be Limitations
censused by non-divers.

Fishes may be frightened by or

attracted to the census takers thus
biasing observations. Ž Not suitable for cryptic, sparse or
highly mobile fishes.
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 Common Reef

EPINEPHELINAE LUTJANIDAE HAEMULIDAE

groupers, snapper, sweetlips, grunts,
lapu-lapu, pogapo, katambak, awoman, lipti
sono maya-maya, islawan

LETHRINIDAE CARANGIDAE CAESIONIDAE

emperors, jacks, trevallies, fusiliers,
katambak, dugso talakitok, mamsa dalagang-bukid, solid

NEMIPTERIDAE MULLIDAE BALISTIDAE

coral breams, goatfish, triggerfish,
silay timbongan pakol, pugot

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Fish Families

CHAETODONTIDAE POMACANTHIDAE LABRIDAE

butterflyfish, angelfish, wrasses,
alibangbang, adlo labayan
pisos-pisos

SCARIDAE ACANTHURIDAE SIGANIDAE

parrotfish, surgeonfish, rabbitfish,
molmol indangan, labahita, danggit, kitong,
sunghan, bagis samaral

POMACENTRIDAE ANTHIINAE Zanclus cornutus

damselfishes, fairy basslets, Moorish idol,
pata, kapaw, palata bilong-bilong sanggowanding

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 S ample data for the Fish Abundance Data
Form showing data from one transect

FISH ABUNDANCE DATA FORM Form 5A

Site Name: TUKA I (BUFFER ZONE) Municipality & Province: Kiamba, Sarangani
Transect No.: 10 Depth (m): Coordinates: 5 59.10’ N, 124o36.71’ E
o

Date (mo/day/yr): 3/20/99 Time: Left observer: Ben Banquil Right observer: Andre U.
Habitat notes: Horizontal visibility: Angle of Transect orientation:
(m): 3.5 slope: 15-20o East
FAMILY Species Record number of fishes per size class
1-10 cm 11-20 cm 21-30 cm specify sizes for >30 cm
<EPINEPHELINAE> 2
groupers; lapu-lapu
Barramundi cod; senorita
<LUTJANIDAE> 12
snappers; maya-maya
<HAEMULIDAE>
sweetlips; grunts; lipti
<LETHRINIDAE> 1
emperors; katambak
CARANGIDAE
jacks; trevallies; talakitok
CAESIONIDAE
fusiliers; dalagang bukid; solid
NEMIPTERIDAE 4
coral breams; silay
MULLIDAE 7 2
goatfishes; timbongan
BALISTIDAE 11
triggerfishes; pakol
CHAETODONTIDAE 24
butterflyfishes; alibangbang
POMACANTHIDAE
angelfishes; adlo
LABRIDAE 26
wrasses; labayan
Humphead wrasse; mameng
[SCARIDAE] 4
parrotfishes; molmol
Bumphead parrotfish; taungan
[ACANTHURIDAE] 33
surgeonfish; indangan
[SIGANIDAE] 1
rabbitfishes; kitong; danggit
[KYPHOSIDAE]* 1
rudderfishes; ilak
POMACENTRIDAE 670
damselfishes; palata
ANTHIINAE 12
fairy basslets; bilong-bilong
Zanclus cornutus
Moorish idol; sanggowanding
sharks
rays
sea turtles
others cardinal fish 6
filefish 3
soldierfish 3
flutemouth 1

Legend: <fishes> = major reef carnivores; [fishes] = major reef herbivores, fishes = fishes which are indicators of hard corals

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 DATA SUMMARY FORM Form 5B
Site Name: Tuka Reef (Barangay Poblacion) Municipality & Province: Kiamba, Sarangani

S
Zone/Sector: Outside Inside
Month & year: March 1999 March 1999

Tuka, Kiamba, Sarangani

abundance from 10 transects in
ample summary data of fish
Transect #: 1 2 3 9 10 4 5 6 7 8
Types/groups Sub-total Total Avg. Sub-total Total Avg.

Groupers 5 0 2 3 2 12 2.4 5 2 3 2 6 18 3.6

Snappers 5 0 1 2 13 22 4.4 3 7 4 1 1 16 3.2
Sweetlips 1 0 0 1 0 2 0.4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Emperors 0 0 2 0 1 3 0.6 16 0 5 1 1 23 4.6
Jacks 0 0 1 2 0 3 0.6 0 0 1 10 1 12 2.4
Fusiliers 13 0 0 35 0 48 9.6 0 0 1 0 0 1 0.2
Spinecheeks 1 0 2 14 4 21 4.2 12 0 14 3 2 31 6.2
Goatfishes 22 18 21 36 9 106 21.2 7 23 16 5 0 51 10.2
Triggerfishes 33 20 41 36 11 141 28.2 9 15 21 34 27 106 21.2
Butterflyfishes 82 43 54 49 24 252 50.4 21 55 50 24 58 208 41.6
Angelfishes 26 16 21 15 0 78 15.6 9 45 20 12 4 90 18
Wrasses 69 65 83 272 26 515 103 30 619 239 64 128 1080 216
Parrotfishes 11 8 0 2 4 25 5 2 12 13 2 51 80 16
Surgeonfishes 122 74 44 118 43 401 80.2 61 215 227 33 264 800 160
Rabbitfishes 5 0 1 0 0 6 1.2 1 10 9 2 2 24 4.8
Damselfishes 1032 1157 1420 617 670 4896 979.2 868 972 686 662 439 3627 725.4
Fairy basslets 13 18 3 45 12 91 18.2 4 1 12 9 1 27 5.4
Moorish idol 3 2 2 6 0 13 2.6 1 12 11 0 3 27 5.4
Cardinal fishes 76 0 0 0 6 82 16.4 3 0 2 2 1 8 1.6
Filefishes 3 0 7 0 3 13 2.6 0 0 0 7 2 9 1.8
Soldier fishes 38 1 9 0 3 51 10.2 9 0 10 0 10 29 5.8
Hawkfishes 3 2 0 0 1 6 1.2 0 0 5 0 0 5 1
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48

FISH GRAPHING FORM Form 5C

Site Name: Tuka Reef Municipality & Province: Kiamba, Sarangani
Inside Inside Inside

S
Zone/Sector: Outside Outside Outside
Month & Year: Oct. 1998 Mar. 1999 Apr. 2000 Oct. 1998 Mar. 1999 Apr. 2000

of fish abundance
ample graph using pictographs
Types/groups

Groupers

Snappers

Sweetlips

Jacks

Fusiliers

Parrotfishes

Surgeonfishes

Rabbitfishes
Learning Laboratory
Write the local names for each of the various fish species in
each fish family. Learn the English family name for that
family. Do this for each of the fish families on the Data
Form.

Picture Local Names English Family Name

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.
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 Trainer’s Tips for Chapter 6
Explain that species that are closely related are grouped into families.

Be careful not to disturb the fishes before and during the census. So, detailed benthos
monitoring (this does not include manta towing) should be done after the fish census.

Check accuracy of count and size estimates. Fish dummies of different lengths may be used
to train observers to estimate fish lengths underwater. Count estimates by the local team
and by the trainers should not differ by more than one log5 abundance category (on page
43).

Some ways to collect more detailed information:

1. Fish Length Observation. Estimating the fish size to the nearest cm or inch is
particularly effective for assessing marketable food species. However, close attention
must be paid to standardizing the length estimates and adjusting the tendency for
objects to look larger underwater than in reality. Prior to using this variation, the team
must practice estimating underwater with fish models of known lengths. Even though
having only one observer yields more consistent results, having a team is more
sustainable and participatory.
2. Indicator Butterfly Species. Approximately half the species of butterflyfishes feed
almost only on corals and so the number and variety of butterflyfishes is sometimes
used as an indicator of the health and biodiversity of a coral reef. Simply list the kinds
(species) of butterflyfishes observed on the transect and report this on Form 5D.

Other sampling units (e.g. 7-m radius cylinders) other than 50-m transects are also used by
other visual census practitioners. When comparing your data with data from others using
different sizes of transects, convert all their data to the same sampled volume (e.g. 2,500
m3) first.

Review Questions:
1. If our marine fishery reserve is managed properly, what do you expect will happen to
the fish counts inside the reserve? What about fish counts outside?
2. What should you use to estimate the width of the transect to be observed?

Trainer’s Tips for Chapter 7

Invertebrates are counted over a 250 m2 area while fishes are counted over a 500 m2
area. You must convert the counts to density to make them comparable. For example,
if 5 groupers were counted in a 500 m2 area and 10 Diadema urchins were counted
over a 250 m2 area:
5 groupers x 10,000 m2 = 100 groupers 10 urchins x 10,000 m2 = 400 urchins
500 m2 1 hectare hectare 250 m2 1 hectare hectare

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 OBSERVING INVERTEBRATES 7
Definition
Invertebrate census is the
identification and counting of
animals without backbone
(vertebrae) observed within an
area of interest.

P urpose
Invertebrate census can be
used to estimate the numbers
of non-cryptic invertebrates in
areas of good visibility (al-
though many invertebrates
hide during the day). This in-
formation may reflect the
health of the coastal resource
stocks as well as the extent
of invertebrate collection in
the area.

Requirements
q Pictures of the animals (see
next page) to be counted
q Goggles or mask & snorkel
q 50-m transect line marked
every 5 m
q Underwater slates with
attached pencil
(Optional
optional)
q Boat (depending on where the
survey site is)

51
 S tep-by-step Procedure
Simply use the procedure for monitoring fish but count invertebrates
instead (use Form 4A to record data and Form 5C to graph data). Look
for invertebrates under overhangs and inside crevices. Sizes of inverte-
brates may or may not be recorded or monitored.
Invertebrates to be observed
Since invertebrates
are not as mobile
as fishes,
5-m transect width
is used instead of
10-m transect width
(total area sampled
DIADEMA URCHIN GIANT CLAMS is 250 m 2 )
tuyom, para-para taklobo

CROWN-OF-THORNS LOBSTER TRITON

STARFISH banagan tambuli
dap-ag, salamay

BANDED CORAL SEA CUCUMBER PENCIL URCHIN

SHRIMP balat
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