According to recently conducted research at Lancaster University, large-scale coral bleaching episodes make it much harder for a bunch of reef fish species to identify their rivals. Researchers studying reefs in five Indo-Pacific locations discovered that after severe coral loss caused by bleaching, butterflyfish individuals’ ability to recognise rival species and act appropriately was hampered. They are now making worse decisions, making it more difficult to avoid picking pointless battles and wasting valuable, finite energy.
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