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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Richard Luscombe in Miami

Underwater ‘doorbell’ helps scientists catch coral-eating fish in Florida

A GoPro camera under water
A GoPro camera monitors predatory fish eating coral reefs at Paradise Reef off Key Biscayne. Photograph: Erin Weisman/University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science

Marine scientists in Florida working to help reverse a calamitous decades-long decline in coral reefs caught fishy “porch pirates” in the act with an innovative underwater doorbell-style surveillance camera.

The footage showed that three corallivorous species – redband parrotfish, foureye butterflyfish and stoplight parrotfish – were responsible for eating more than 97% of coral laid as bait by the researchers at an offshore reef near Miami.

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