Dive Curious. Discover what others miss. Mission Recap There are a lot of organisms eating algae on a coral reef, but they are not all doing the same ecological job. Rather than simply looking for herbivores, our mission was to observe different grazers and compare how each one removes material from the reef. Over two dives, we came across a variety of grazers, from yellow tangs, to goldring surgeonfish, to parrotfish, to urchins. All of them interact with algae in some way, but once we began paying closer attention to how they feed, the word “grazer” became more complex. Not All Grazers Graze the Same Way Herbivory is one of the processes that helps to shape a coral reef. By removing algae, herbivores can influence how much space and light are available on the reef and which organisms are able to occupy the substrate. But different herbivores target different types of algae and remove them in different ways. Some fish crop algae from the surface, while others scrape tightly attached algal turf from hard substrate. Some browse larger fleshy algae. Sea urchins use a five-toothed feeding structure rasp material from the reef. So instead of asking, “What is eating algae?”, we began to ask a more useful questions: What does each feeding strategy do to the reef surface? Parrotfish Scraping the Reef
Dive curious. Discover what others miss. Mission Recap Sometimes the best way to survive on a coral reef is to make sure nobody notices you are there. For our second Science Friday, we went looking for critters doing exactly that. Our mission for Masters of Disguise was to observe organisms using different strategies to avoid being noticed. Over two dives, we found marine life disappearing against rocks, changing their appearance, and even covering themselves with material from the reef. However, camouflage isn’t always just about hiding from predators. For some animals being difficult to see helps them get close enough to catch their prey. The Trumpetfish That Changed Before Our Eyes
Dive curious. Discover what others miss. Mission Recap Something is always eating on a coral reef. We don't always get to see it happen, but if we know what to look for, we can often find the clues left behind. That was the mission for our first Science Friday: Who Ate That? Rather than simply looking for marine life, we spent two dives looking for evidence of feeding and asking a simple question: Who ate that? Reading the Reef One of the goals of Science Friday is to get us thinking about a coral reef as more than a collection of fish, invertebrates, and substrate. It is a community of organisms constantly interacting with one another. Feeding is one of the easiest ways to begin observing those interactions because even when we don't witness it first hand, often clues are left behind.
