Kajian Pertumbuhan Karang Bercabang Acropora formosa (DANA 1846) Di Perairan Semenanjung Malaysia

Acropora formosa (Dana 1846) is one of the dominant reef building coral and is commonly found in Malaysian waters. It is a species with a relatively high growth rates but the study is still lacking in Malaysian waters. The main purpose of this study is to look at its growth rates in two different conditions, which were in natural reef habitats and in nurseries. The coral growth studies in natural habitat were conducted at two locations with different environmental conditions, namely Pulau Pangkor, Perak and Pulau Tioman, Pahang. Meanwhile, the coral growth studies in the nursery were only conducted at Pulau Tioman, which was in Tekek and Air Batang waters. For both studies, the growth aspects investigated were the extension growth, the generation of proto-branch and percent survival. Studies in natural reef found that A. formosa in Pulau Pangkor showed better growth rate although it has more murky waters. Natural reef samples of Pulau Pangkor recorded an average extension growth as high as 0.75 ± 0.52 cm/month and proto-branch generation rate of > 50%, compared with the growth of 0.42 ±0.41 cm/month and protobranch generation rate of < 20% in Pulau Tioman. Nevertheless, samples of natural reef in Pulau Tioman recorded higher survivals i.e. 100% compared with samples at Pulau Pangkor which recorded 85% survival at the end of experiment. Study on the coral growth in nursery condition on the other hand showed that Tekek nursery showed higher rates in all three growth aspects studied, compared with Air Batang nursery. In summary, the coral A. formosa showed high growth rates in natural reef, and its successful application in the nursery was satisfying. This concludes that A. formosa has high potential in coral reef recovery, as well as high possibility of successful coral transplanting program.