Environmental DNA reveals secret reef inhabitants

An international research team uses a global sampling of seawater to reveal which tropical reef fish occur where. To identify species and families, they successfully used the residual DNA shed by the animals present in the ...

Major discovery helps explain coral bleaching

Corals, like all animals, must eat to live. The problem is that most corals grow in tropical waters that are poor in nutrients, sort of like ocean deserts; it's this lack of nutrients that makes the water around coral reefs ...

Global study reveals new hotspots of fish biodiversity

Teeming with millions of species, tropical coral reefs have been long thought to be the areas of greatest biodiversity for fishes and other marine life—and thus most deserving of resources for conservation.

Feces from coral-eating fish may act as 'probiotics' for reefs

Until recently, fish that eat coral—corallivores—were thought to weaken reef structures, while fish that consume algae and detritus—grazers—were thought to keep reefs healthy. But scientists have discovered that feces ...

Rare species perform unique roles, even in diverse ecosystems

A new study, published 28 May in the open access journal PLOS Biology, has revealed the potential importance of rare species in the functioning of highly diverse ecosystems. Using data from three very different ecosystems—coral ...

World's northernmost coral reef in Japan bleached

Bleaching has damaged the world's northernmost coral reef in Japan, a researcher said Tuesday, the latest example of a global phenomenon scientists have attributed to high ocean temperatures.

Marine Pied Piper leads Nemo astray

The growing amount of human noise pollution in the ocean could lead fish away from good habitat and off to their death, according to new research from a UK-led team working on the Great Barrier Reef.

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