Data on the length-weight relationship of 161 species of commercially important coral reef fishes in Tawi-Tawi islands, Southern Philippines.

This article contains the data on the Length-weight relationship (LWR) parameters play a crucial role in fisheries management, particularly in fish stock monitoring methods like fish visual census, where biomass estimation relies on the measurement of individual fish lengths in situ. Localized LWR parameters provide more accurate assessments of local fish stocks due to the influence of environmental conditions, which vary across different locations. In this study, we present the LWR parameters for 161 species belonging to 60 genera and 21 families of commercially important coral reef-associated fishes found in the waters surrounding the Tawi-Tawi islands in Southern Philippines. Among the families with at least 10 species recorded were the Serranidae or groupers (24 species), Lutjanidae or snappers (17 species), Nemipteridae or coral breams (14 species), Acanthuridae or surgeonfishes (12 species), Carangidae or jacks (12 species), Scaridae or parrotfishes (12 species), and Siganidae or rabbitfishes (10 species). Approximately 30% or 48 species exhibited a negative allometric growth pattern (b < 3), indicating that these species tend to become more slender as they increase in length. Conversely, around 14% or 23 species displayed a positive growth type (b > 3), where the fish becomes heavier as they increase in length. The majority of the species, accounting for 56% or 90 species, demonstrated an isometric growth pattern (b = 3), where the growth rate for weight and length is proportional. The LWR analysis yielded a coefficient of determination (r2) with an average value of 0.9553, indicating highly significant relationships between length and weight for all species studied (P < 0.001). Furthermore, this study unveiled new total length records for 27 species. Additionally, 73 species represent the first LWR records for marine fishes in the Philippines.

Ethical challenges in genetic research among Philippine Indigenous Peoples: Insights from fieldwork in Zamboanga and the Sulu Archipelago.

The Philippines, with the recent discovery of an archaic hominin in Luzon and an extensive ethnolinguistic diversity of more than 100 Indigenous peoples, is crucial to understanding human evolution and population history in Island Southeast Asia. Advances in DNA sequencing technologies enable the rapid generation of genomic data to robustly address questions about origins, relatedness, and population movements. With the increased genetic sampling in the country, especially by international scientists, it is vital to revisit ethical rules and guidelines relevant to conducting research among Indigenous peoples. Our team led fieldwork expeditions between 2019 and February 2020 in Zamboanga and the Sulu Archipelago, a chain of islands connecting the Mindanao and Borneo landmasses. The trips concluded with a collection of 2,149 DNA samples from 104 field sites. We present our fieldwork experience among the mostly sea-oriented Sama-Bajaw and Tausug-speaking communities and propose recommendations to address the ethical challenges of conducting such research. This work contributes toward building an enabling research environment in the Philippines that respects the rights and autonomy of Indigenous peoples, who are the rightful owners of their DNA and all genetic information contained therein.

Data on the biomass of commercially important coral reef fishes inside and outside marine protected areas in the Philippines.

This article contains the data on fish biomass inside and outside 57 locally managed marine protected areas (MPAs) and within the nationally protected Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park (TRNMP) from 57 coastal municipalities and 20 provinces in the Philippines. It includes the seven major commercially important coral reef fishes, namely, the surgeonfish (family Acanthuridae), parrotfish (subfamily Scarinae, family Labridae), snappers (family Lutjanidae), groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae, family Serranidae), goatfish (family Mullidae), sweetlips (family Haemulidae) and emperor (family Lethrinidae). Fish visual census (FVC) surveys were done by scuba diving along 10 m × 50 m belt transects established on upper reef slope, mostly with depths ranging from 5 to 10 m. Four to twelve transects were surveyed for the locally managed MPAs, half of which were established inside MPAs and the other half outside MPAs. Thirty-three transects were surveyed for the TRNMP. FVC was performed by swimming slowly and stopping every 5 m to record all the fish within a 10 m - wide belt. All FVC surveys were conducted from 2006 to 2014 between 9:00-16:00 hours. Each fish was identified to the species level and total length (TL) was estimated to the nearest centimeter. Fish biomass was estimated using the relationship between length (L) and weight (W) with the equation W = aLb. The data we provide can be used for coral reef fisheries management and for monitoring and evaluation of coral reef fishes in the Philippines particularly for the MPAs included in this dataset. These data support the information presented in the article Muallil et al., 2019.