Abstract Reef fish occupy numerous functional groups and play integral roles in maintaining the health of coral reef ecosystems. However, the management and conservation of these fish groups, and thus coral reefs, are hindered by a paucity of information regarding their spatial distribution patterns and the environmental drivers behind these patterns in the Philippines. Therefore, this study quantified the spatial abundance patterns of selected functional fish groups around two coastal bays in the Philippines, and determined which factors influenced these patterns on both small, localised and larger regional scales. A modified Reef Check methodology was utilised to determine the abundance of fish groups and the substrate composition for 15 coral reefs situated in five delineated regions. The abundance of herbivorous, coralivorous, and top predatory fishes were highly variable, both within and between reefs. Significant differences in fish group abundance were found at the reef, but not at the regional level. Commercially important fish groups (Scaridae, Lutjanidae, and Epinephelinae) were dominated by small size classes (less than 20 cm total length). Sites were also found to be variable in their substrate composition and subsistence fishing effort. Generalised Linear Mixed Models highlighted that localised influences of fishing and hard coral cover, rather than larger-scale regional influences, were the most influential on the abundance patterns of herbivorous, coralivorous and top predatory fish groups. This may suggest that the current management approach of localised small-scale marine protected areas (MPAs) may benefit some of these fish communities. However, top predatory fish likely display far-reaching movement patterns that are not encompassed by these small MPAs, and further management efforts are recommended.

中文翻译：

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影响菲律宾两个沿海海湾礁鱼功能群丰度模式的因素

摘要 珊瑚鱼拥有众多的功能群，在维持珊瑚礁生态系统的健康方面发挥着不可或缺的作用。然而，由于缺乏关于菲律宾的空间分布模式和这些模式背后的环境驱动因素的信息，这些鱼类群以及珊瑚礁的管理和保护受到阻碍。因此，本研究量化了菲律宾两个沿海海湾周围选定功能性鱼类群的空间丰度模式，并确定了哪些因素在小型、局部和更大的区域尺度上影响了这些模式。修改后的珊瑚礁检查方法被用来确定位于五个划定区域的 15 个珊瑚礁的鱼类群的丰度和底物组成。大量的草食性、珊瑚性、珊瑚礁内部和珊瑚礁之间的顶级掠食性鱼类变化很大。在珊瑚礁上发现了鱼类群丰度的显着差异，但在区域层面上没有发现。商业上重要的鱼群（鲟科、鲟科和石斑鱼科）主要是小规格的（总长度小于 20 厘米）。还发现地点的基质组成和自给性捕捞努力量是可变的。广义线性混合模型强调，捕鱼和硬珊瑚覆盖的局部影响，而不是更大规模的区域影响，对草食性、珊瑚性和顶级掠食性鱼类群的丰度模式影响最大。这可能表明，目前对局部小规模海洋保护区 (MPA) 的管理方法可能会使这些鱼类群落中的一些受益。然而，