Underwater doorbell helps scientists catch coral-eating fish in Florida

Marine scientists in Florida working to help reverse a calamitous decades-long decline in coral reefs caught fishy “porch pirates” in the act with an innovative underwater doorbell-style surveillance camera. The footage showed that three corallivorous species – redband parrotfish, foureye butterflyfish and stoplight parrotfish – were responsible for eating more than 97% of coral laid as bait by the researchers at an offshore reef near Miami. The findings, they say, can help inform coral reef repopulation efforts following a 90% decline in Florida’s coral cover since the 1970s following unprecedented bleaching events caused by the climate emergency, particularly record ocean

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