Presenter: Tory Chase, PhD (he/him)
Format: Poster
If a coral reef is ecologically compared to a city – then small sand patch habitats on the edge of the reef, are kinda like the suburbs. We know that fishes alter their movements and behaviours to avoid predation, find the optimal habitat, and be social – all of which can have implications on host coral colonies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to quantify damselfish occupancy of corals, to determine the overall association duration and provide context to the fish-coral mutualism.
Over time, colonies with fish generally remained occupied, colonies without fish stayed empty, and colonies with fish removed were quickly recolonized. These corals, where fish were removed, regained >50% of original fish numbers after eviction within 2 weeks. These fishes must have had good real-estate agent or Zillow for fishes as they seemed to know when a prime spot of real-estate opened up and were quick to move in after an eviction
The future of this homeowners association is dynamic and there is a stability in the residency providing robustness and resiliency to the coral-fish mutualism, making damselfish services to corals temporally stable.