Science
Published May 24, 2019 | 14:00 EDT (News release from AAAS)
The smallest of marine vertebrates – seldom-seen, historically overlooked reef fishes – contribute 40 per cent of reef-fish biodiversity and account for nearly two-thirds of near-reef larval fish pools. They also provide nearly 57 per cent of the total fish flesh consumed by larger reef fish, which millions of people depend on. The tiny fishes’ contribution to coral reefs has been overlooked because they are eaten almost as quickly as they reproduce.
Lead author: Simon Brandl, Simon Fraser University – simonjbrandl@gmail.com
