Aureed Reef
Aureed Island Reef was surveyed for the first time using manta tow in 2013. Median reef-wide live coral cover was moderate (20-30%) and numbers of crown-of-thorns starfish were recorded at outbreak levels that may have some impact on coral cover. Signs of coral bleaching were restricted to small numbers of individual colonies on the back of the reef. No signs of black band disease or white syndrome were observed. Aureed Island Reef was classified as Incipient Outbreak in 2013.
The survey sites were located on the reef flanks where the most continuous area of hard substrate was found. The reef slope was short and after 20-30 m the reef substrate transitioned to sand at around 6-9 m depth. Hard coral cover on the shallow reef slope was patchy with estimates from Reef Health and Impact Surveys (RHIS) being very variable between sites. Hard coral cover was moderate to very high (14-62%) , while soft coral cover was low to moderate (2-12%). Photo transects were sampled from the reef flat and the reef slope at Aureed Island Reef. The reef flat was dominated by extremely high cover of algae (88%), composed of brown macroalgae (41%) and turfing algae (47%). The remainder of the benthos was mostly sand (10%). On the reef slope hard coral cover was high at 50%. Poritidae was the dominant hard coral family with 28% cover, followed by the mixed family group at 13% and Faviidae at 4%. Soft coral abundance was low (4%). Algal cover was high (40%), composed predominantly of turfing algae (37%).
Manta Tow:
Fish and Benthos Surveys:
RHIS surveys:
