Abstract

Corals are significant organisms in the marine ecosystem because of their abilities to buffer the intensity of extreme tidal wave or tsunami. They also have reputation in terms of providing spawning ground and habitat for fishes, and other living marine organisms. Despite of these numerous ecosystem services of corals, they are exploited intensively due to anthropogenic activities. One of the actions that can be made to this kind of ecosystem to prevent harm, and become stable is through the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). This will help in the protection and improving coral reserves of the ocean. For this purpose, baseline data regarding the characteristics of coral reefs and their status are crucial for analysis. The mean hard coral cover in the study site, Sumaoy, falls under category B reefs (36%HCC) but the diversity is within Diversity Category C reefs (>18-22TAUs). The overall dominant corals or with high abundance status are the mushroom (CMR) corals. This coral is commonly inhabited sheltered reefs or lagoon where their structure as solitary living colonies are well adopted. The fish population in the area is generally poor and the abundance of target species is relatively low. An indication of high fishing effort as exhibited by remnants of fishing lines and nets entangled to coral heads.