A positive feeding response in a major coral reef detritivore

Our results indicate that Ctenochaetus striatus populations respond positively to conditions of moderate coral loss through increases in body condition identified as increased biomass. These responses are correlated to the expansion of SAT's as coral cover declined, however this relationship reverses if coral loss is high due to the succession of LAT's over SAT's and a corresponding decrease in the quality of food available. Our use of HTS has nevertheless identified the importance of detritivory in the flow of energy through reefs in the Anthropocene which are increasingly becoming depauperate in hard coral.