Guardians of the reef: How parrotfish promote coral health

by Yvaine Ye, CU Boulder
September 5, 2024

Neighbors can be annoying. They may be loud or intrude on your space. But is it worth fighting with them? Parrotfish choose not to.

In a new study published Aug. 28 in the journal Ecology, a CU Boulder researcher and his collaborator revealed that the spotlight parrotfish, a brightly colored species found in the shallow waters off Florida and in the Caribbean Sea, behave more tolerantly toward neighboring parrotfish but aggressively toward strangers.

The researchers spent days underwater observing the colorful fish, providing key insight into a species that plays a critical role in both maintaining healthy coral reefs and contributing to the white sand beaches of the Caribbean.

“Parrotfish are an important part of the coral reef ecosystem and the ecological functions it provides,” said Joshua Manning, the paper’s first author and a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. “Understanding their behavior will help us evaluate whether and how they can buffer the effects of climate change on coral reefs.”

Keep reading: https://www.colorado.edu/today/2024/09/05/guardians-reef-how-parrotfish-promote-coral-health

Read the Ecology paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.4407