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Coral reefs are very complex marine ecosystems, where fish diversity is very high (Hermelin-Vivien 1989; Moberg and Folke 1999). Coral reefs host approximately 5,000 marine fish species with an occupying ocean space of less than 0.1% (Helfman et al 1997). These reefs provide refuge and nursery or settlement habitats for various fish species (Harrington et al 2004; Mumby et al 2004). In the past few decades, live coral has experienced unprecedented loss causing the reef fish species to decline in diversity and abundance. Anthropogenic changes such as ocean acidification, climate change, fishing, nutrient loading, introduced species, disease, and overgrowing tourism especially with diving tourism are the mechanisms responsible for these losses (Fishelson 1995; Rinkevich 1995; Harriott et al 1997; Ehrenfeucht 2014; Boström et al 2018). The reduction of live corals is responsible for the decline of fish species that live and feed on these live corals (Cheal et al 2002; Bellwood et al 2004; Halford et al 2004). The 2010 mass coral bleaching event was widespread, affecting the degradation of coral reefs within the East Asian Seas Region such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines (Kimura 2010; Hoeksema and Matthews 2011; Khokiattiwong and Weidong 2012; Sutthacheep et al 2013). Several environmental stresses have been reported to trigger coral bleaching events, e.g., temperature, low salinity, irregularity, chemical toxins, light intensity change, and diseases (Hoegh-Guldberg 2011). The magnitude and frequency of climate-induced coral bleaching are expected to heighten over the coming decades. The Andaman Sea was reported to have an elevated sea surface temperature of between 30-34 °C during April-June 2010, causing a severe coral bleaching event where over 50-90% of the coral was bleached (Chavanich et al 2012; Yeemin et al 2012; Sutthacheep et al 2013). Many studies reported that branching coral species (e.g., Montipora spp., Acropora spp., and Pocillopora spp.) were the most susceptible to bleachinginduced mortality, while massive and encrusting coral species (e.g., Porites spp.) were more resistant to bleaching (Yamazato 1981; Fisk and Done 1985; Glynn 1988; Brown and Suharsono 1990; Hoegh-Guldberg and Salvat 1995; Sheppard 1999; McClanahan 2000; Edwards et al 2001). Coral loss has a significant impact on reef fish abundance and diversity (Graham et al 2006, 2008). The Andaman Sea is characterized by its high fish diversity and endemic fish species (Randall 1998; Randall and Satapoomin Abstract Reef fish play an important role in the community dynamics of coral reefs and maintaining healthy reefs. This study aimed to (1) assess coral recovery at reefs around Racha Yai Island after the 2010 mass coral bleaching event and (2) compare the fish community indices (Shannon diversity, evenness) and fish trophic functional groups between low (Patok Bay) and high (Khonkae Bay) environmental disturbance sites during 2013-2019. The fish surveys and the percent live coral covers from both bays during 2013-2019 were collected using the fish visual census method and a permanent quadrat method along 50-m transect lines. Our results showed that the percentage of live coral cover at both bays increased by 68%. At Khonkae Bay, there were 69 reef fish species and 10,684 individual fish belonging to 5 orders, with 27 families and 54 genera observed from 7 orders: Perciformes (91.03%), Tetraodontiformes (5.54%), Syngnathiformes (1.24%), Beloniformes (0.26%), Beryciformes (1.25%), Scorpaeniformes (0.70%), and Aulopiformes (0.06%). Fish community indices at Khonkae Bay increased during 2013-2019 and were composed of species richness (3.65-10.53), the Shannon index (0.653.49), and species evenness (0.49-0.91). At Patok Bay, there were 60 reef fish species and 10,362 individual fish belonging to 3 orders, with 22 families and 50 genera observed from 4 orders: Perciformes (93.04%), Tetraodontiformes (5.92%), Syngnathiformes (0.55%), and Anguilliformes (0.53%). Fish community indices at Patok Bay increased during 2014-2019 and were composed of species richness (4.69-8.62), the Shannon index (1.36-3.30), and species evenness (4.92-8.62). Our results suggested that the 2010 mass coral bleaching event had large impacts on both the coral and reef fish community at both low and high environmental disturbance sites with good recovery over nine years.

Coral and reef fish community recovery following the 2010 extreme ocean warming event (mass bleaching event) at Thailand