COMMUNITY STRUCTURE OF CORALS IN MASSAWA AND DAHLAK ARCHIPELAGO

The coral community structure of Green Island and Resimedri from Massawa, Shumma and Nacura from Dahlak archipelago were studied and compared using 10-meter line transect method. There is a clear distinction in coral community structure at least between two islands. Both Nacura and Shumma show significant difference when compared to Resimidri. These two islands are part of the Dahlak archipelago and show no significant difference between them. There is also no significant difference in coral community structure between Resimedri and Green Island. All of the islands are dominated by a very few coral genera. The same coral genera are dominant both in Green Island and Resimidri despite the difference in rank order and percentage coverage. But the dominant ones of Nacura are quite different from those of Shumma.This is a good indication that Green Island and Resimidri are more similar than Nacura and Shumma do. In spite of the fact that there is a difference in coral richness, diversity, and evenness between the islands, the values are still low. The highest values of richness and diversity of coral genera is obtained from Shumma relative to the rest of the islands.