A surgeon fish glides by a coral reef in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. A period of very warm water in the equatorial Pacific in 2002, brought about by an El Niño, affected these reefs, which are recovering. Abundant fish, including herbivores (such as surgeonfish) and predators, may be beneficial to the recovering coral.
(Photo by Larry Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
SEARCH RELATED TOPICS: Corals
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