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Non-bleached colonies of massive Porites may attract fishes for selective grazing during mass bleaching events
In this study we investigated the variation in grazing scar densities between bleached and non-bleached colonies of massive Porites species in Sekisei Lagoon (Okinawa, southwestern Japan) during a mass bleaching event in 2016. The grazing scar densities and bleaching susceptibility varied among neig...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
PeerJ Inc.
2017
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5494163/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28674649 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3470 |
Sumario: | In this study we investigated the variation in grazing scar densities between bleached and non-bleached colonies of massive Porites species in Sekisei Lagoon (Okinawa, southwestern Japan) during a mass bleaching event in 2016. The grazing scar densities and bleaching susceptibility varied among neighboring colonies of massive Porites spp. However, non-bleached colonies had significantly more surface scars than bleached colonies. One explanation for these variations is that corallivorous fishes may selectively graze on non-bleached, thermally tolerant colonies. This is the first report of a relationship between grazing scars and the bleaching status of massive Porites spp. colonies during a mass bleaching event. |
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