true

ISRA FACTSHEETS

ASIA REGION

ISRA FACTSHEETS

ASIA REGION

Mommon Seamount ISRA

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Mommon Seamount ISRA

Mommon Seamount

Summary

Mommon Seamount is located in West Papua, eastern Indonesia. The area is characterised by extensive gardens of hard corals and several patches of coral heads. Within the area there are: threatened species and undefined aggregations (Oceanic Manta Ray Mobula birostris).

Mommon Seamount

Mommon Seamount

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Mommon Seamount is located in West Papua province, eastern Indonesia. This area sits within the Coral Triangle and the Bird’s Head Seascape that is known to have exceptionally high marine biodiversity (Veron et al. 2009; Mangubhai et al. 2012). The area is an elongated seamount located 7 km from the coast. It is shallower on the northwest and deeper on the southeast. On the seamount there are extensive gardens of hard corals and several patches of coral heads.

The area is mainly influenced by monsoon seasons. The northwest monsoon (November–April) is characterised by warm sea surface temperatures. In contrast, the southeast monsoon (May–October) is characterised by cooler temperatures and strong and continuous southeast winds that produces upwelling (Mangubhai et al. 2012).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthopelagic and is delineated from inshore and surface waters (0 m) to 50 m based on the depth range of the Qualifying Species in the area.

CRITERION A

VULNERABILITY

One Qualifying Species considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species regularly occurs in the area. This is the Endangered Oceanic Manta Ray (Marshall et al 2022).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C5 – UNDEFINED AGGREGATIONS

Mommon Seamount is an important area for undefined aggregations of one ray species.

Underwater surveys and information obtained from tourist activities between 2012 and 2023 (September–June) found that Mommon Seamount hosts an important cleaning station for Oceanic Manta Rays (Beale et al. 2019; Setyawan et al. 2020). Aggregations of 3–20 individuals have been observed cleaning on every monitoring visit for the past decade (M Erdmann & E Setyawan unpub. data 2023). Five of these individuals were tagged with passive acoustic transmitters and an acoustic receiver installed at the site. Results have revealed a high residency to the area and connectivity between the Mommon Seamount cleaning station and other Oceanic Manta Ray cleaning stations 300–500 km to the north in Raja Ampat (M Erdmann & E Setyawan unpub. data 2023). In addition, an intensive survey of the entire Fakfak coastline in 2022 (along the coastline from this area) recorded three additional offshore patch reefs where 1–3 Oceanic Manta Rays were observed. However, more research is required to determine if these additional three sites are regular cleaning stations (MV Erdmann unpubl. data 2022).

Mommon Seamount

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