Corals lurking in deeper, darker waters could one day help to replenish shallow water reefs under threat from ocean warming and bleaching events, according to researchers.
The University of Queensland and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies examined corals from the ocean’s ‘twilight zone’ at depths below 30 metres. Dr Gal Eyal, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow at UQ’s Marine Palaeoecology Lab, said the mesophotic zone was deeper than recreational SCUBA diving limitations.
“Corals in this zone are often overlooked or ignored but occupy at least 50 per cent of unique coral habitats,” Dr Eyal said. “Light is limited when descending to these depths, so it’s a major factor in the livelihood of the ecosystems there.
“We showed that strictly mesophotic coral can grow much faster when it is transplanted to a shallow reef light environment.
“In deeper waters the corals experience light limitations, so they allocate their energy accordingly.”
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Image via University of Queensland
