尤物视频

COLLECTING CRYPTOBENTHIC FISHES CAN BE DELICATE. HERE, SIMON BRANDL IS TRANSFERRING AN ANAESTHETIZED CARDINALFISH INTO A COLLECTION BAG.

Researchers from 尤物视频 have discovered how coral reefs support such an abundance and diversity of life. Banting Postdoctoral Fellow Simon Brandl and a team of international researchers revealed that tiny fish species around the world fuel life on coral reefs.

The research, published in , examines how commonly overlooked 鈥榗ryptobenthic鈥� fishes鈥攖iny, bottom-dwelling creatures鈥攁re a bountiful food source for larger fishes.

鈥淭hese fish are like candy,鈥� says Brandl. 鈥淭hey are tiny, colorful bundles of energy that get eaten almost immediately by any coral reef organism that can bite, grab or slurp them up.鈥�

鈥淚n fact, the vast majority of tiny fish on reefs are eaten within the first few weeks of their existence.鈥�

The researchers examined the larvae of reef fish, which normally undertake long journeys across the open ocean to find a home. Few of them survive. Tiny fish larvae, however, appear to avoid this migration and stay close to their parents鈥� reefs.

鈥淭iny fish larvae absolutely dominate the larval communities near reefs,鈥� says Brandl. 鈥淥ur data shows that these fish get a lot more bang for their buck with every egg they spawn鈥攑robably because they avoid the death trap of the open ocean.鈥�

The behaviour allows adult tiny fish populations to create a steady stream of babies that rapidly replaces each adult tiny fish that is devoured on the reef.

鈥淭his conveyor belt supplies almost 60 per cent of all consumed fish flesh on reefs, but we never see it because the fish get eaten much faster than we could ever count them,鈥� says Brandl. 鈥淚t鈥檚 essentially a bag of candy that magically replenishes every morsel eaten.鈥�

The research has important implications for the preservation of coral reefs.

鈥淐oral reefs around the world are undergoing dramatic declines,鈥� says Isabelle C么t茅, SFU biological sciences professor and co-author of the paper. 鈥淲ith this research, we can help focus conservation efforts on protecting the fuel for the bustling fish communities that underpin reefs and their immense value to people.鈥�

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