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Scientists in Florida used cameras to identify three corallivorous fish species that ate 97% of the coral initially laid out as bait in a controlled experiment. This information will help to tackle the massive decline in Florida’s coral reef populations.
Did you assume that doorbells were only for… well, doors? You thought wrong.
Scientists in Florida are using underwater ‘doorbell’ cameras to monitor and identify certain types of fish that feed on coral, also known as corallivores. Funded by a grant from the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida, several recording devices were made using GoPro cameras, a PVC frame, and lead weights for added stability.
These devices were then placed on the seabed at Paradise Reef, close to Key Biscayne in Miami-Dade county. They were attached using masonry nails and cable ties.
The footage captured by the researchers indicated that there were three species responsible for eating 97% of the coral that was placed as bait. These were the redband parrotfish, foureye butterfly fish and stoplight parrotfish. Yes, those are their real names.
This information will be used to better understand animal behaviours and improve current efforts to repopulate Florida’s coral reefs.
Since the 1970s, Florida’s coral reefs have seen a devastating decline in population numbers and overall ocean health. 90% of all coral cover has disappeared over the past fifty years, thanks to widespread bleaching events directly caused by the climate crisis. Florida has also experienced record ocean heat in the past two summers, indicating that things will continue to worsen without intervention.
‘Identifying the fish species responsible for coral predation would allow practitioners to avoid reef sites or areas within sites with high abundances of those species,’ says project leader Diego Lirman.
‘The coral-baited underwater cameras provide insight into corallivore behaviour and preferences. It allows documentation of predation at various sites rapidly and without incurring the cost of outplanting.’
