Habitat utilization by fishes in a shallow, semi-enclosed estuarine bay in southern Gulf of Thailand

One hundred and eight fish species were collected between March 2003 and February 2004 from 11 study sites in Pattani Bay, southern Gulf of Thailand. The catches consisted primarily of juveniles or adults of small-sized fishes, indicating that the bay was important as nursery ground for fishes. Of the 43 families, Leiognathidae (43.3% contribution), Centropomidae (15.2%), Siganidae (13.8%), Engraulidae (10.3%), Atheriniidae (6.9%), Clupeidae (4.8%) and Ariidae (3.1%) were dominant in the catch. Significant differences were found in relative abundance and species richness between both sampling sites and months. The sampling sites were clearly defined by fish community into four different habitats that were directly related with the bottom structure of each site. The 30 most dominant fish species were categorized according to habitat preference into five different groups. Some species exhibited preference for specific habitats, whereas others were distributed throughout the bay. Seasonally, fish community structure revealed four different recruitment and occurrence periods, which were February to April, May to September, October and November to January, which was partially related to local monsoonal seasons. Analysis of the 30 most dominant fish species demonstrated that they were clustered into six different seasonal groups, with some showing a clear preference for specific months, although many recruited and occurred throughout the year. Results of this study help to clarify the ranges of habitats, months and seasons used by a number of fish species found in tropical coastal habitat.