Coral Reef Fish

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Teira batfish (Platax teira)
Fish ecologist Simon Thorrold's research on pristine coral reefs in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea yields both scientific results and beautiful images—such as these Teira batfish (which can grow to two feet) streaming past the reef. Thorrold studies dispersal and migration of reef fish using chemical tracers in their ear bones and DNA fingerprinting. His goal is to understand how larval fish journey through the open ocean before finding their adult homes on reefs, and how populations on separate reefs are connected to each other. (Photo by Simon Thorrold, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)