March 3, 2023
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An international team of researchers studied the behavioral changes among butterflyfish on a series of reefs in the Indo-Pacific before and after the 2016 global mass coral bleaching event. They found that following the bleaching event, fish behaved more aggressively toward one another in their newly degraded reef home. The energetic toll of encounters involving fighting and chasing one another could have implications for the long-term survival of reef fish species, the study authors conclude.
