The plight of the Great Barrier Reef has been reported at length for the last decade. In 2003, an article in Science, believed that part of this decline was due to the loss of herbivores. According to the authors the loss of herbivores and preadators exposed the reef to pollution and natural disasters of which it could not recover. This is due to the fact that when a reef is damaged it can usually recover if it is not overrun with algae, which herbivores eat. If the algae is left to grow unchecked it becomes tall, like grass that has not been mowed for a while, preventing common herbivore fish from being able to clean up the mess. Recently researchers at James Cook University noticed a new fish in town.

Prof. Bellwood and fellow researcher Rebecca Fox commented “To our surprise and disappointment, the fish that usually ‘mow’ the reef – parrot fishes and surgeon fish - were of little help when it came to suppressing well established weedy growth. Most herbivores simply avoided the big weeds.
 
“Then, to our even greater surprise a fish we had never seen in this area before was observed grazing on the weed. The rabbit fish (Siganus canaliculatus), came out of nowhere and began to clear-fell the weed placed on the reef crest. The rabbit fish is not a fish you tend to take a lot of notice of,” Prof. Bellwood explains. “Like its terrestrial counterpart, it is brown, bland and easily overlooked – but it could be very important when it comes to protecting the GBR. We hadn’t seen it previously at this site despite conducting over 100 visual censuses. This made its appearance in numbers sufficient to check the weedy growth all the more remarkable.”

This is great news for such an amazing natural wonder. We at Biotech Mashup salute the hard work and strong work ethic of the rabbit fish.