Benefits of herbivorous fish outweigh costs of corallivory in coral nurseries placed close to a Kenyan patch reef

Research output: Contribution to conferencePosterAcademic

Abstract

The net effects of herbivorous and coral-predating fish on coral growth, coral condition and fouling in nurseries was investigated by a cage-exclusion experiment in Kenya. A 100-fold increase in macroalgae was found in caged nurseries, which lead to lower growth and condition of the corals. Uncaged nurseries were kept clean predominantly by the grazing of the bristletooth Ctenochaetus striatus. Only 10% of all coral fragments showed some predation marks throughout the study. Overall, this study shows that the benefits of fouling control outweigh the costs of incidental coral predation in coral nurseries. It is recommended to place coral nurseries close to reefs to make use of the benefits provided by the fish community.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 Jun 2023
Event11th WIOMSA Scientific Symposium - Reduit, Mauritius
Duration: 1 Jul 20196 Jul 2019

Conference/symposium

Conference/symposium11th WIOMSA Scientific Symposium
Country/TerritoryMauritius
CityReduit
Period1/07/196/07/19

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