Tentang Pulau Lang

     

 INFO   PULAU LANG

ABSTRACT

An investigation at Pulau Aur, Johor was done using the wandering transect with scuba gears to re-appraise the local holothuroid diversity and distribution. Results showed that three families, eight genera and 20 species of sea cucumbers were recorded in the 13 locations surveyed in Pulau Aur, Pulau Dayang, Pulau Lang and Pulau Pinang from 5th to 12th September 2005.

The dominant family was Holothuriidae (12 species), followed by Stichopodidae (5 species). The most dominant species in these four islands were Holothuria edulis and Stichopus chloronotus which could be found abundant on the sand substrate and rubble area from a wide range of depth (4.0 m – 20.0 m). Eleven of the species found were new locality records in the study sites. Recent publications only recorded 13 species in Pulau Aur.

Pulau Aur, Pulau Dayang and Pulau Pinang exhibited a high diversity of sea cucumber populations (12 species found in each island), while only 6 species of sea cucumbers were recorded in Pulau Lang. With these results, we hope to provide better information and model for conservation purpose with the data collected in the marine park (as a control area) where sea cucumber fishery is prohibited and all the marine resources are protected.

Keywords: Diversity, distribution, Holothuroidea, sea cucumber, Pulau Aur.

Sea cucumber fisheries are growing worldwide, leading to overexploitation in most tropical Indo-Pacific countries (Conand, 1999, 2004). For that reason, FAO recently held a symposium on the exploitation, management and aquaculture of sea cucumber (Lovatelli et al., 2004) and CITES has also focused attention on the conservation of these animals at a meeting in Malaysia, 2004.

Symposium and CITES do not bring a positive impact on the conservation of sea cucumbers in Malaysia because sea cucumber fishery is the main source of livelihood in some areas, like Sabah, with over 1600 km of coastline, and there are no regulation and rules on its sea cucumber fisheries (Baine & Choo, 1999). The high values of the sea cucumber species, the ease to harvest from shallow water, and their vulnerable nature from the sea contribute to the overexploitation in the Malaysian waters.

The Pulau Aur group is a tropical offshore island, 67 km east of Mersing, Johor. The group comprises several islands, namely Pulau Aur, Pulau Dayang, Pulau Pinang and Pulau Lang. Both the Pulau Aur group and Pulau Pemanggil which is 15 km northwest of Pulau Aur, belong to the Johor Marine Park. Most of the rocky islands are well forested and have isolated coconut plantations. With deep, clear water, healthy corals and regular encounters with large pelagic species, these islands have the potential to become international diving locations.

The Pulau Aur group was selected as the survey location of sea cucumbers because the islands in the lower part of the South China Sea were designated as marine parks (Pulau Besar, Pulau Aur and Pulau Tinggi). Here, sea cucumber fishery is prohibited and all the marine resources are protected. The results of the survey will provided real images of the diversity and distribution of sea cucumbers in their natural habitat. Furthermore, the results will provide references and information for the conservation purpose of these sea cucumbers in other places in Malaysian waters.

The results of the surveys are shown in Table 2. Three families, nine genera and 20 species were recorded in the study sites. The dominant family found was Holothuriidae (12 species) followed by Stichopodidae (5 species). The most common genus observed is Holothuria spp. (5 species), followed by Actinopyga spp. (4 species). The most abundant or common sea cucumber recorded were Stichopus chloronotus and Holothuria edulis which were found on sandy bottom, rocky and rubble areas in ten of the surveyed reefs. S. hermanni variegates, S. horrens, Actinopyga sp., Bohadschia marmorata, Holothuria hilla, H. nobilis, Eupta godeffroyi, Synapta maculata and Synaptula lamperti were considered rare species because they were respectively from one location.

From the four islands surveyed in the Aur group, Pulau Dayang, Pulau Pinang and Pulau Aur exhibited higher biodiversity of sea cucumber population compared to Pulau Lang in this study (Figure 2). All seven genera of sea cucumbers recorded were found in Pulau Dayang and Pulau Pinang while six genera of sea cucumbers were recorded in

Pulau Aur. We only found 4 genera and 6 species of sea cucumbers inhabiting Pulau Lang, which was the smallest island in the Aur Archipelago located at the west of the main island.