Encompass HK, a Hong Kong-based social enterprise that promotes the Sustainable Development Goals, hosted a discussion on Hong Kong marine biodiversity on World Ocean Day (June 8, 2020). We cover animals from corals, megafauna, invertebrates and fish in Hong Kong, and suggesting some ways for individual actions to protect these animals.

1. HK Marine
Biodiversity

2. For 2020 World Oceans Day is growing the
global movement to call on world leaders to
protect 30% of our blue planet by 2030. This
critical need is called 30x30.
2020 Theme: Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean

3. Agenda for today
• About Encompass HK and SDGs
• What is biodiversity
• Marine species in HK
• What can you do?

4. Benita
Chick
• B.A. in Biology, Cornell University
• Masters in Marine Biology, Boston University
• Semester abroad at James Cook University
• AAUS Scientific Diver
• PADI and NAUI Scuba Diving Instructor

5. Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet
Interaction
About Encompass HK
A wonderful serenity has taken
possession of my entire soul, like these
sweet mornings of serenity has taken
possession of my entire
Established in December 2018
Structured as a social enterprise, donating
60% of all net profits to NGO and
community partners
Created and planned over 40 workshops
and experiential learning programs
Encompass HK’s mission is to assist and
inspire institutions in the achievement of
the UN's SDGs

6. 17 Sustainable
Development Goals
Set in 2015 by
the United Nations
169 specific targets To be achieved
by 2030
THE GLOBAL GOALS
For Sustainable Development

7. • Music therapy & mental health awareness (Singing
bowl, breathwork)
• Eco field trips & clean-ups (Marine, Heritage,
Biodiversity, STEM)
• Sustainable tastings & responsible consumption (Coffee,
Wine, Beer)
• DIY lifestyle (Toothpaste, Cleaning supplies, Vegan
cooking)
• ESG & Impact investing
Turnkey Workshops
• Unconscious bias & gender equality
• Diversity & inclusion education
• Sustainable food & farm-to-table meal (Urban farm tours,
composting, kombucha)
• Zero-waste, recycling & circular economy
• Climate change, energy efficiency & carbon footprint
calculation
• Systems thinking for ESG / Sustainable finance

12. S o u r c e : “SWIMS Marine Institute” HKU 2016

13. HK marine biodiversity
生物多樣性
Group No. of species
Hard corals 84
Soft corals 26
Polychaetes 218
Crustaceans 77
Molluscs 55
Echinoderms 95
Fish 1000
Seagrass 4
Algae 299

15. Hong Kong Marine Habitat

16. Different habitats for marine life

17. What is the total marine area in HK?
 16km2
 160km2
 1600km2
 16000km2

18. How many marine parks are
found in HK?
 1
 2
 3
 4
 5

19. HK Marine Parks and Marine reserves

20. Coral reef distribution in HK

22. Hong Kong marine environment

23. Seasonal monsoon currents bypassing HK

24. Hong Kong marine
condition
• High seasonal and short-term
variability in water
temperatures (ranging from
<14°C in winter to 31°C in
summer)
• Low summer salinity (as low as
15 psu) due to runoff
associated with the Asian wet
monsoon season and the Pearl
River Delta

25. Healthy food web
Hong Kong Oceans – 1950s
Hard coral species were more than in the entire
Caribbean
Around 1000 species of fishSharks were common

26. Hong Kong
Oceans –
1950s

27. Hong Kong Oceans –
1950s

28. Hong Kong Oceans –
1970s to present
Sewage Discharge
Reclamation
Overfishing Dredging

29. How much you know
about HK marine
biodiversity?

31. Biological
Diversity

32. Dwarf Eel Grass 矮大葉藻
Zostera japonica
 Perennial seagrass
 Special scientific value: one of the few
marine flowering plants in Hong Kong

33. Brown Seaweed 馬尾藻
Sargassum spp.
FANRAY
Platyrhina sinensis
 Not Seagrass
 Grow rapidly in winter
months from Oct to May,
and disappear
completely in summer
from Jun to Sep

34. The big stuff

35. Tiger shark
• Last sighting was on June 16,
2007, when four tiger sharks –
one four meters long – were
spotted by divers in Sai Kung
waters near Pak Sha Wan

36. Sharks in Hong Kong
Bamboo Shark
Grey Reef Shark
Whitecheek Reef Shark
Blacktip Reef Shark
Silky Shark
Hardnose Shark
Sport-tail Shark
Great Sharpnose Shark
Milk Shark
Spadenose Shark
Hammerhead Sharks
Sportless Smooth-Hound
Smooth Dogfish
Japansse Wobbegong

37. Rays in Hong Kong
FANRAY
Platyrhina sinensis
SPOTTED NUMBFISH
Narcine timlei
BLUE-SPOTTED STINGRAY
Dasyatis kuhlii

38. Barracuda in Hong Kong
GREAT BARRACUDA
Sphyraena barracuda

39. Chinese White Dolphin 中華
白海豚 • Vulnerable (IUCN Red List of
Threated Species)
• 16 species of dolphins,
porpoises, and whales have
been recorded in HK
• Only Chinese white dolphins
reside in HK

40. Turtles
• 5 out of 7 species of sea turtles
are found in HK
• Loggerhead, Green Turtle,
Leatherback, Hawksbill and
Olive Ridley

41. Green Turtles 綠海龜
Endangered (IUCN Red List of Threated Species)
Threats
 Harvest for food and ornaments
 Construction at nesting beaches
 Artificial light and noise
 Busy marine traffic
 <29oC, predominantly male
 > 30.4oC , only females
Sham Wan,
Lamma Island
Designated as Site of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSI) in
1999

42. Horseshoe Crab 馬蹄蟹
 Endangered (IUCN Red List of Threated Species)
 Living fossils - not true crabs
 All 3 Asian species can be found in Hong Kong
 Distribute in the western waters of Hong Kong – mudflats
(Deep Bay/ Lantau Island)
 Facing threats in coastal development, overfishing, pollution
of their breeding beaches

43. Horseshoe Crab 馬蹄蟹
 Amebocytes from the blood are
used to make Limulus amebocyte
lysate (LAL), which is used for the
detection of bacterial endotoxins
in medical applications.

44. Coral Reef
Species

45. Hong Kong marine fish
around 1000 species
0.05% of South China
Sea, 30 % of marine fish
Hong Kong reef fish
Around 350 species
(Estimated to be >500)

46. Common
Reef fish
HONG KONG BUTTERFLYFISH
Chaetodon wiebeli
BLUE-RINGED ANGELFISH
Pomacanthus annularis
LONG-FIN BANNERFISH
Heniochus acuminatus
YELLOWTAIL TANG
Zebrasoma xanthurum

47. Hong Kong Grouper 香港
紅斑 Endangered (IUCN Red List of Threated
Species)
 Take a long time to reach maturity
 Prone to overfishing
 “A delicacy in danger”

48. Hong Kong Grouper 香港
紅斑

49. Clarke’s
Anemone fish
• Highly aggressive and
territorial
• Male will change to female
when mature
• Warning sounds

50. Moray eel
油錐
Netted Moray
White-margined
MorayReeve’s Moray Laced Moray

51. Strange
Looking Fish
BOX FISH
TRUMPET FISHFILEFISH
PUFFERFISH

52. Flying gurnards
軍帽魚
• Thick and hard
scales, form
longitudinal ridges
• Large, blunt, bony
head

53. Seahorse 海馬
YELLOW SEAHORSE
Hippocampus kuda
GREAT SEAHORSE
Hippocampus kelloggi

54. Hazardous fish
SCORPIONFISH STONEFISH LIONFISH

55. Common reef
invertebrates in Hong
Kong

56. Phylum Porifera

57. Sponges 海棉
 Sedentary filter-feeders, filter water equal to 4-5 times of their volumes every
minute
 Sponges vary greatly in forms and sizes, from thin encrusting sheets to large
barrels or vases.
Clathrina sp. Haliclona sp. Tethya sp.

59. Hong Kong Corals
 Hard corals communities are mostly found in 1 to 4m
 Dominated by species with massive, encrusting and foliacious
forms
 Soft coral communities are located deeper and in more exposed
areas

60. Pavona decussata 十 字 牡 丹 珊 瑚
 Common name: Lettuce coral
 Thick interconnecting, bifacial upright plates to form massive
colonies

61. Favities spp.角 蜂 巢 珊 瑚
 Submassive/ Encrusting
 Large Corallites, Shared Walls

62. Sea Anemone 海葵
Cerianthus sp. Bulb Tentacle Sea Anenome
Entacmaea quadricolor

63. Jellyfish 水母
Lion’s Mane Jellyfish
Cyanea capillata
 Tentacles as long as 10m and
covered in stingers
 Possesses toxin in its
tentacles

64. Platyhelminthes

65. Flatworms 海扁蟲
Pseudobiceros bedfordi
• Most common flatworms seen in HK
• and Indo-pacific
• Feed on tunicates and crustaceans

67. Segmented worms 環節蠕蟲
Spirobranchus tetraceros
• Close relative of the Christmas tree worm
• Possess two colourful tentacle crowns
which are flat rather than spiral-shaped
• Found as a group

68. Coco worm 椰樹管蟲
Coco Worm
Protula bispiralis
• Two pinkish spiral tentacle crowns
• Usually solitary

69. Bristle Worm
Chloeia parva
• Also known as fireworms
• Tiny bristles on their legs possess
venomous glands
• Usually, the worms are found at the
bottom of the sea but are occasionally
found swimming in the water column.
Bristle worm 海毛蟲

70. Mollusc

71. Sea snails 海蝸牛
Spindle Cowrie
Phenacovolva brevirostris
Soft Coral Cowrie
Pseudosimnia whitworthi
Tiger Conch
Strombus luhuanus

72. Cone snail 雞心螺
Cone Snail
Conus geographus
• The danger they pose
comes from a tiny
venom-laden harpoon
they can fire from their
proboscis.
• Can kill an adult in 4 min

73. Sea slugs 海蛞蝓
Chromodoris dianae Dendrodoris miniata Gymnodoris ceylonica
Also known as nudibranch (nudi)

74. Nudibranch egg mass
Sea slugs 海蛞蝓

75. Sea hare 海兔
Aplysia oculifera
Ragged Sea hare
Bursatella leachii

76. Bivalves 雙殼綱
Asian green mussels
Perna viridi
Pen Shell
Atrina sp..
Scallops
Mimachlamys sp.

77. Octopus 八爪鱼
Blue-ring octopus
Hapalochlaena spp
Common Octopus
Octopus spp.

78. Cuttlefish and Squids 墨魚、魷魚
Squid

79. Echinoderm

80. Thorny sea cucumber
Colochirus quadrangularis
Sea cucumbers 海參
Sea apple
Pseudocolochirus violaceus

81. Cuvierian tubules
Sea cucumbers 海參

82. Decorator urchin
Salmacis sphaeroides
Sea urchins 海膽
Long-spined sea urchin
Diadema setosum

83. Starfish 海星
Grained seastar
Ophidiaster armatus
Eight-armed sea star
Luidia maculate

84. Brittlestars 海蛇尾
Ophiuroidea spp.
 Only 5 arms
 No replication of internal organs
 Possess a typical echinoderm
vascular system but only for
feeding but not for locomotion
 Detritus feeder
 Nocturnal

85. Feather stars 海百合
• Crinoids
• Survive in strong current
• Can walk, roll, swim
• Host to many animals

86. Echinoderm
Phylum Arthropoda

87. Chinese Spiny Lobster 中 國 龍 蝦
 Endemic in HK waters
 This species is characterized by the white strips on the
pereiopods (legs)
Panulirus stimpsoni

88. Blue Swimming Crab
Portunus pelagius
Crabs 蟹
Spotted Box Crab
Calappa philargius
Decorated
hermit crab

89. Hinge -beak shrimp
Rhynchocinetes durbanensis
Shrimps 海蝦
Banded Coral Shrimp
Stenopus hispidus

90. Anemone shrimp
Periclimenes cf. holthuisi
Shrimps 海蝦

91. Phylum Chordata

92.  Also known as turnicates
 Closely related to vertebrates (the
notochord is present in the animal's
larval stage)
 Easy to confuse with sponges
 Two openings
Sea Squirt 海鞘

93. Mangrove Species in Hong Kong

94. Rocky Shore Species in Hong Kong

98. What can you
do? .
What can
you do?

99. We will need 4.2 Earths if
everyone adopts Hong Kong’s
current lifestyle
Our ecological footprint comes from…

100. What can
you do?

102. What can
you do?
Report eco-vandalism!

104. Learn what are you seeing

105. Participate in a Bioblitz!

107. RESOURCES
FACEBOOK PAGE
Wildcreatures Hong Kong
香港海洋教室 Hong Kong Marine Classroom
DOCUMENTARY
大自然大不同
WEBSITE
https://www.114ehkreeffish.org/
http://www.nature.edu.hk/about-hkbis
https://www.wwf.org.hk/
https://www.afcd.gov.hk
http://www.earthsendangered.com
ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER
WWF Hong Kong (Hoi Ha and Mai Po)
Ocean Park Hong Kong
Hong Kong Wetland Park

109. Encompass-HK
EncompassHKAsia
contact@encompasshk.com
04
Thank you!
www.encompasshk.com
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