Seaweed-Loving Crabs Help Restore Caribbean Corals 🦀

[Judi Lynn]

Posted by News Editor in Latest News, Oceans, RSS on January 28, 2021 3:55 pm / no comments



MIAMI, Florida, January 28, 2021 (ENS) – With the dangers of climate change increasing at a rapid rate, Caribbean coral reefs are in decline, overcome by seaweed. Now scientists think that they have found a solution for the infested reefs – herbivorous crabs that enjoy a seaweed diet.

On December 10, 2020, researchers with Florida International University, FIU, reported in the journal “Current Biology” that native crabs in the Florida Keys could help break down the seaweed by eating it and so could help to restore the reefs.

FIU Professor of Tropical Ecology and Conservation Mark J. Butler IV, and co-author Angelo “Jason” Spadaro have been observing marine habitats in the Florida Keys for over 30 years.

With his experience in the Keys, Butler and his team were able to observe the symbiotic relationship that Caribbean king crabs have with the coral reefs there.

“Experimentally increasing the abundance of large native, herbivorous crabs on coral reefs in the Florida Keys led to rapid declines in seaweed cover and, over the course of a year or so, resulting in the return of small corals and fishes to those reefs. This opens up a whole new avenue for coral reef restoration,” explained Butler.

More:
http://ens-newswire.com/2021/01/28/seaweed-loving-crabs-help-restore-caribbean-corals/

[marble falls]

1. I love natural solutions.

[Nitram]

2. Thanks for posting.