Fish and coral smell a bad neighborhood: Marine protected areas might not be enough to help overfished reefs recover
Thursday, August 21, 2014 - 15:10
in Biology & Nature
Pacific corals and fish can both smell a bad neighborhood, and use that ability to avoid settling in damaged reefs. Damaged coral reefs emit chemical cues that repulse young coral and fish, discouraging them from settling in the degraded habitat, according to new research. The study shows for the first time that coral larvae can smell the difference between healthy and damaged reefs when they decide where to settle.