A study, the results of which were published showed that coral bleaching, which negatively affects the fish’s diet, prompts them to fight “useless” battles and thus waste precious energy that threatens their survival.
Coral bleaching results from the rise in ocean temperature due to climate warming, and is represented in the loss of the color of coral reefs that provide shelter and food for many marine species, reports a local Arabic daily.
A team of researchers studied the consequences of this bleaching on 38 species of butterfly fish, a type of colorful tropical fish that partially depends on coral for its diet, and therefore their food source is diminishing strongly and quickly, according to what the marine biologist at the University of Lancaster in Britain Sally Keith told AFP.
Along with her teammates, Keith was unable to predict that a major coral bleaching wave was on the way when she began studying this species in 17 coral reefs in the Philippines, Indonesia and Australia’s Christmas Island.
When this phenomenon occurred in 2016, it was the “ideal occasion” to study the consequences of bleaching on the behavior of marine animals that depend for their food on the health of corals, according to the scientist.
A year after the event, the researchers were shocked at the terrible damage done to the corals. The fish were swimming in its surroundings in search of a food source that had completely disappeared.
The bleaching affected corals, especially Acropora, which is an essential food source for butterfly fish.
