The composition of reef-associated fishes in Ulee Lheue breakwater Banda Aceh, Aceh, Indonesia

The tsunami of December 26, 2004, damaged Ulee Lheue Port that located in Meuraxa sub-district of Banda Aceh. In the rebuilding of Ulee Lheue Port, the breakwater with a length of approximately 2 km along the coastline of Ulee Lheue, also constructed. Artificial structure in coastal areas such as the breakwater not only crucial for engineering science but also essential for the biological and ecological study. However, the study of marine biodiversity especially reef fishes in Ulee Lheue breakwater is not available until this study. Hence, the present study was aimed to catalog the reef-associated fishes species in Ulee Lheue breakwater. The research was conducted from February to October 2015. The sampling sites were designed by systematic sampling. Sampling sites were located on the outer side and inner side the breakwater with each station spacing of 250 m. The reef fish data were collected using the Underwater Visual Census in 3 meters depth on each station. There were 87 species of reef fishes found in the Ulee Lheue water. This result showed that the construction of artificial structures on the coast is not only crucial in the development of a city but also significant for marine biology and ecology study.