New species found as Bali’s reef recovery gets underway

NEWLY DISCOVERED: Bubble coral. Picture: Mark Erdmann / Conservation International

‘We were impressed with what we found'

May 2011: Eight potentially new species of fish, and a new species of coral have been found in the waters off Bali.

The discoveries came during a two-week marine survey by Conservation International that aimed to assess reef health and provide management recommendations for 25 areas proposed to be developed into a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) off the island.

Among the potentially new species documented were two types of cardinal fish, two varieties of dottybacks, a garden eel, a sand perch, a fang blenny, a new species of goby and a previously unknown Euphyllia bubble coral. Further study will need to be done to confirm the taxonomy of each species before the discoveries can be confirmed.

The survey documented 953 species of reef fish and 397 species of coral.

‘The coral seems to be recovering from bleaching'
‘We carried out this present survey in 33 sites around Bali, nearly completing a circle around it, and were impressed by much of what we saw,' said Dr Mark Erdmann, senior advisor for the CI Indonesia marine programme. ‘There was a tremendous variety of habitats, surprisingly high levels of diversity and the coral reefs appeared to be in an active stage of recovery from bleaching, destructive fishing and crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks in the 1990s.'

Acting executive director for CI-Indonesia Ketut Sarjana Putra added: ‘Compared to 12 years ago, we observed an increase in healthy coral reef cover in the area surveyed, indicating a recovery phase. That is why it needs serious protection and management, to complete the revitalization.'

Plastic pollution still a problem
Though the survey found the reefs to be recovering well, with a seven-to-one ratio of live to dead coral, the team also observed that commercially important reef fish were severely depleted. In more than 350 man-hours of diving, the team only observed a total of three reef sharks and three Napoleon wrasse - a stark contrast to a healthy reef system where a diver would readily encounter this number of large reef predators in a single dive.

The team also saw that plastic pollution was omnipresent and noted the encroachment of fishers on no-take areas in the West Bali National Park.

‘This survey highlights how important these Marine Protected Areas are to improving economic returns from marine tourism while also providing food security and ensuring the sustainability of small-scale artisanal fisheries,' Dr Erdmann said.