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Fish are the key indicators of the marine ecosystem which can provide the idea about
healthiness of the marine ecosystems. A small number of keystone species can have
a huge impact on the balance of the ecosystem. Therefore, indicators are measureable
metrics of a particular aspect of ecosystem's health. Trincomalee is one of the major
biological hot spot within Sri Lankan coast having huge diverse of marine resources.
The Trincomalee port is the largest and the finest natural harbor in Asia. Continues
disturbances made by shipping activities and invasion of alien species may have
negative impacts to change the balance of the ecosystem. The original ecosystem
condition must be known not only to assess the later impacts but also to restore the
damaged ecosystems. Therefore a biological baseline survey has been conducted for
the understanding of the current situation of the Trincomalee port. Underwater
Visual Census (UVC) was carried out at the pre identified 16 piers (Ashroff jetty,
Claperbury Island, Coral Cove, Diving unit pier, Elephant Island, Fishery harbor,
Holland Cove, IOC pier, Marble beach, Navy pier, Nicolson -Cove, Peper, Prima, Sygan, Tokyo cement) with the aim of finding out the fish species diversity of the
harbor in August 2014. Fish species were recorded from a video camera on separate
swims along 50 m long 2 m wide transects. The fishes were identified using
standard identification keys (Rajasooriya (2013), (1997) and Fishlsase (ver.
06/2011). The results indicated that, there were 193 fish species belonging to the 46
families. Among them Labridae(11 %), Acanthuridae(ll %) and Pomacentridae
(10%) are the most common families. Species diversity is 120 species/1000 m2 arid
ranging to very high species' richness category according to the Hilomen's species
richness and abundance index of 2000. Elephant Island site shows the highest fish
species richness (58 species) followed by Coral Cove (55 species) and Tokyo cement
sites ( 49 species), while IOC site showing lowest species richness ( 12 species).
Therefore, it can be concluded that the Trincomalee port is having high fish
diversity. This baseline information is useful for managing and conserving this
ecosystem in future.
