Ichthyofauna of the intertidal reef flats of Minicoy Atoll, Lakshadweep: An analysis of its structure, relative abundance and food

Out of the 21 families and 190 species of resident and migratory fishes hitherto recorded from the reefs of Minicoy, 60 species belonging to 17 families are commonly found in the present samples. Very little qualitative difference in the faunal composition was observed between the windward and leeward sides. The percentage of incidence of different species in the samples varied from 6 to 100%. Bulk of the species occurring belong to families Acanthuridae, Holocentridae, Pomacentridae, Serranidae, Chaetodontidae, Kuhlidae, Labridae and Callyodontidae. Acanthurus triostegus triostegus, is the richest forming 49% of the total catch. Others in the order of abundance of biomass include Epinephelus hexagonatus (9.6%). Holocentrus lacteoguttatus (8.7%), Abundefduf glaucus (5.1%), Epinephelus caeruleopunctatus (4.1%), Acanthurus lineatus (3.6%), Epinephelus merra (2.9%), Abudefduf cingulum (2.2%), A. septemfasciatus (1.8%), A. zonatus (1.1%), A. sordidus (1.0%) and the rest minor components