Species composition and distribution pattern of stingrays in the coastal waters of Terengganu, Malaysia, the South China Sea

Abstract

Stingrays are part of commercial fisheries worldwide; Malaysia is ranked as the eighth-largest stingray fishery in the world. Samples were collected monthly from January 2018 to December 2018 using stingray gill nets in Coastal South China seawaters of Terengganu. The present study aimed to determine the abundance and distribution of stingrays based on species and sizes at different habitat and seasons in the Terengganu, Malaysia coastal waters. A total of 10 stingray species were collected from 122 samples. Stingray species are distributed differently according to habitat and seasonal. The result of a two-way ANOVA showed that habitat and season significantly affect the abundance of stingrays (P < 0.001). Most catches were in 20 m depth during the dry season. The result of a non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination indicates that the grouping overlapped in habitat and season with similar species collected.