Coral recruit size-escape thresholds under fish grazing

Algae covered tiles containing week-old and month-old coral recruits of Acropora millepora, Acropora kenti and Goniastrea retiformis were exposed to different types of fish grazing to investigate the impact of grazing on coral recruit survival. High resolution images of tiles where used to track recruit size and survival, and algae coverage, pre and post 24 hour exposure to fish grazing. The tested fish grazers were Ctenochaetus binotatus (a 'brusher'), Salarias fasciatus ('brusher'), Acanthurus nigrofuscus ('cropper') and Zebrasoma scopas ('concealed cropper'); also included were a 'control' treatment where tiles were undisturbed for the 24 hours and a 'manual' treatment where algae was removed by an aquarist. After the experiment, fish were anaesthetised and measured. These data were collected in December 2023.

覆盖有藻类的实验附着瓦片搭载了1周龄与1月龄的微孔鹿角珊瑚（Acropora millepora）、肯特鹿角珊瑚（Acropora kenti）及网状合叶珊瑚（Goniastrea retiformis）珊瑚幼体，本实验将此类瓦片置于不同牧食类型的鱼类环境中，以探究鱼类牧食对珊瑚幼体存活的影响。在鱼类牧食暴露24小时前后，通过高分辨率影像追踪瓦片上珊瑚幼体的体型、存活率以及藻类覆盖度。本次受试的牧食鱼类包括双斑栉齿刺尾鱼（Ctenochaetus binotatus，「刷食型」）、带纹凤鳚（Salarias fasciatus，「刷食型」）、黑刺尾鱼（Acanthurus nigrofuscus，「啃食型」）与丝绒吊（Zebrasoma scopas，「隐蔽啃食型」）；此外还设置了「对照组」（实验瓦片在24小时内不受任何干扰）与「人工处理组」（由水族从业者去除瓦片表面的藻类）。实验结束后，研究人员对受试鱼类进行麻醉并测量其相关体征。本数据集采集于2023年12月。