OVERFISHING is preventing coral reefs in Japan from recovering from
environmental damage such as bleaching. A marine biologist in Australia has
discovered that a feisty reef fish helps protect damaged corals against
rampaging sea urchins.
Robert van Woesik of the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne was
studying the recovery of the reef at Sesoko island in Okinawa after most of the
coral died from bleaching during a particularly hot summer in 1998. He noticed
that it recovered much faster when damselfish called Stegastes lived
nearby.
Stegastes eat algae that grow on the hard carbonate backbone of the reef.
They…
