Biotopes of the Western Arabian Gulf, by Philip W. Basson, John E. Burchard jnr and John T. Hardy. Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia - A Guide to the Common Reef Fishes of the Western Indian Ocean, by K. Brick. Macmillan, £2.95.

Benthic habitat composition is a key factor that structures assemblages of coral reef fishes. However, natural and anthropogenic induced disturbances impact this relationship. This study investigates the link between benthic habitat composition and fish functional groups in four countries in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). Benthic composition of 32 sites was quantified visually from percentage cover of hard and soft corals, rubble, turf, fleshy and crustose coralline algae. At each site, abundance of 12 coral-associated fish functional groups in 50 × 5 m transects was determined. Cluster analysis characterized reefs based on benthic cover and revealed five habitat types (A, B, C, D and E) typified by decreasing cover of hard corals, increasing cover of turf and/or fleshy algae and differences in benthic diversity. Habitat type A was present in all four countries. Other habitats types showed geographic affiliations: notably Comoros sites clustered in either habitats B or E, northern Madagascar had B, C and D type habitats, whereas sites in central Tanzania and northern Mozambique had habitats D and E. Fish functional groups showed significant linkages with some habitat types. The abundances of corallivores, invertivores, detritivores and grazers were higher in habitat B, whereas planktivores and small excavators showed lower abundances in the same habitat. These linkages between benthic habitat types and fish functional groups are important in informing priority reefs that require conservation and management planning.

Download Full-text

Coexistence: Symbiotic sharing of feeding territories and algal food by some coral reef fishes from the Western Indian Ocean

Marine Biology ◽

10.1007/bf00388182 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 62 (2-3) ◽

pp. 185-195 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

D. R. Robertson ◽

N. V. C. Polunin

Keyword(s):

Coral Reef ◽

Indian Ocean ◽

Western Indian Ocean ◽

Reef Fishes ◽

Coral Reef Fishes ◽

Algal Food

Download Full-text

Coexistence: symbiotic sharing of feeding territories and algal food by some coral reef fishes from the western Indian Ocean

Deep Sea Research Part B Oceanographic Literature Review ◽

10.1016/0198-0254(81)91556-9 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 28 (12) ◽

pp. 883

Keyword(s):

Coral Reef ◽

Indian Ocean ◽

Western Indian Ocean ◽

Reef Fishes ◽

Coral Reef Fishes ◽

Algal Food

Download Full-text

History of Fishing and Sailing Communities in the Western Indian Ocean

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.404 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Himanshu Prabha Ray

Keyword(s):

Indian Ocean ◽

Western Indian Ocean ◽

Coastal Communities ◽

Complex Relationship ◽

Occupational Groups ◽

The Third ◽

History Of ◽

The Common ◽

Common Era ◽

Over Time

Archaeologically, the presence of fishing groups is attested in the coastal areas of the western Indian Ocean as early as the seventh millennium bce. A history of these groups shows that they diversified into sailing, trading, pearling, and other occupations over time. By the third and second millennium bce, there is evidence for the use of certain varieties of fish for ornamentation and religious offerings, especially in the Harappan culture of the Indus valley. By the early centuries of the Common Era, a complex relationship developed between several occupational groups involved in fishing and sailing, such as shipbuilders, sailors, merchants, fishermen, and religious personnel, and this is evident from the connections that these coastal groups forged with those located inland as well as those based across the seas. Sailing across the seas involved sharing of knowledge not only of wind systems and navigation but also of boatbuilding and means of identifying different regions of the coast. In this, coastal shrines played a dual role. They functioned as markers to orient sailing vessels, but more importantly were centers of worship that brought together both inland and coastal communities.

Download Full-text

A new species of Tortanus (Atortus) (Copepoda: Calanoida: Tortanidae) from Rodrigues Island, Mauritius

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315403007197h ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 83 (2) ◽

pp. 355-360 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Susumu Ohtsuka ◽

David V.P. Conway

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

New Species ◽

Indian Ocean ◽

Species Complex ◽

Arabian Gulf ◽

Coastal Region ◽

Western Indian Ocean ◽

Species Group ◽

Faunal Element ◽

A New Species

A new species of the copepod genus Tortanus (Atortus) (Copepoda: Calanoida), T. (A.) insularis, is described from the coastal region of Rodrigues Island, Mauritius, an isolated island in the south-western Indian Ocean. This new species can be assigned to an Indian faunal element, the recticauda species group, in the Indo-West Pacific recticauda species complex. It exhibits the closest relationship to T. (A.) recticauda recorded from the southern Red Sea and Arabian Gulf, rather than the closer distributed T. (A.) capensis, recorded from off South Africa.

Download Full-text

Editorial Introduction

The Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies ◽

10.26443/jiows.v4i1.68 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Editors of the JIOWS

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Indian Ocean ◽

Western Indian Ocean ◽

Late Nineteenth Century ◽

Fourth Volume ◽

History Of ◽

The Indian Ocean ◽

Complex Relationships ◽

Indian Ocean World ◽

Shed Light

The editors are proud to present the first issue of the fourth volume of the Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies. This issue contains three articles, by James Francis Warren (Murdoch University), Kelsey McFaul (University of California, Santa Cruz), and Marek Pawelczak (University of Warsaw), respectively. Warren’s and McFaul’s articles take different approaches to the growing body of work that discusses pirates in the Indian Ocean World, past and present. Warren’s article is historical, exploring the life and times of Julano Taupan in the nineteenth-century Philippines. He invites us to question the meaning of the word ‘pirate’ and the several ways in which Taupan’s life has been interpreted by different European colonists and by anti-colonial movements from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. McFaul’s article, meanwhile, takes a literary approach to discuss the much more recent phenomenon of Somali Piracy, which reached its apex in the last decade. Its contribution is to analyse the works of authors based in the region, challenging paradigms that have mostly been developed from analysis of works written in the West. Finally, Pawelczak’s article is a legal history of British jurisdiction in mid-late nineteenth-century Zanzibar. It examines one of the facets that underpinned European influence in the western Indian Ocean World before the establishment of colonial rule. In sum, this issue uses two key threads to shed light on the complex relationships between European and other Western powers and the Indian Ocean World.

Download Full-text