Monitoring of the artificial reef area fish diversity in Kuşadası gulf Pamucak

Objective: In this study, the contribution of 822m3 of artificial reefs placed in the sea in 2001 on the coast of Selçuk-Pamucak in Kuşadası Bay to the fish species diversity in the environment between September 2019 and Agust 2020 was examined. Materials and Methods: Sampling process in artificial reefs was determined by SCUBA diving with using visual counting method. Results: At the end of the 12-month study carried out on the Selçuk-Pamucak coast, 4522 individuals belonging to 30 fish species in 12 families were identified. Melanuria (Oblada melanura L. 1758) was discovered to be the most numerous (2475 species) species observed on artificial reefs throughout the year. While the damselfish (Choromis chromis L. 1758) was observed in the second place with 843 individuals, the seabream (Diplodus vulgaris L. 1758) was observed in the third place with 319 individuals every month. The highest water temperature was recorded at 26 °C in August and the lowest temperature was recorded at 14.9 °C in March. The maximum dissolved oxygen value was 8.18 mg/L in April and the lowest oxygen value was 7.10 mg/L in October. The minimum salinity was ‰37.19 mg/L in January, and the highest salinity was ‰39.91 mg/L in June. The highest visibility was 17 m in August and the lowest was 2.5 m in October. Conclusion: In this study, economically important melanuria (Oblada melanura L. 1758), damselfish (Choromis chromis L. 1758), seabream (Diplodus vulgaris L. 1758) fish species were observed in the artificial reef area. It was confirmed that the ghost nets detected in the reef area indicate that they constitute an obstacle to illegal purse seine and trawler fishing.