Stony corals engage in symbiotic relationships with photosynthetic dinoflagellates (Family Symbiodiniaceae). As corals become more susceptible to bleaching events the rate at which they reacquire Symbiodiniaceae into their framework is key to their survival. Symbiodiniaceae can be dispersed amongst coral colonies by corallivorous (coral-eating) fish species, including butterflyfish. This study looks at the survivability of Symbiodiniaceae cells after ingestion by Caribbean butterflyfishes. Samples were collected from two species of butterflyfish for fecal extraction in order to conduct cell counts of Symbiodiniaceae using a hemocytometer. These counts are then compared to data sets from Grupstra et al. 2021 which conducted a similar analysis on butterflyfish in the Pacific. This research sheds light on how these key fish species can distribute live Symbiodiniaceae across reefscapes and provides a first indication of the extent to which live cells are dispersed across different ocean basins.

Rice University,  Nano-Enabled Water Treatment National Science Foundation (NSF) award #EEC-1449500

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Julie Cooper, Rice University, NEWT Center (2022), "The Importance of Fish Poop," https://nanohub.org/resources/36317.

  BibTex | EndNote

1. clean water
2. coral
3. fish
4. NanoEnabled Water Treatment (NEWT) ERC
5. ocean
6. photobleaching
7. photosynthesis
8. reef
9. Symbiodiniaceae
10. Water