In 2018 the corals spawned; juvenile corals that settled back after mass bleaching of 2016 and 2017 continued to grow; and many more appeared. Fish populations increased. The resident Lizard Island Research Station Directors Dr Anne Hoggett & Dr Lyle Vail were very pleased to see the spawning. Anne sent us this message on the […]
Coral goby social structures – pairs v groups
Research on coral goby species at Lizard Island shows the social structure of those that live as pairs is more resilient to habitat degradation caused by successive cyclones, as compared to those that live in groups of 3 or more. See Martin L Hing et al Repeated cyclone events reveal potential causes of sociality in coral-dwelling […]
Microplastics and other marine microdebris
Dr Frederieke Kroon and her colleagues from AIMS have published the first study confirming the presence of marine microdebris, including microplastics, in wild-caught fish on the Great Barrier Reef. They found microdebris items in the gastro-intestinal tracts of juvenile coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus and P. maculatus) caught on reefs around Lizard, Orpheus, Heron and […]
Reef soundscapes & larval fish
The health of a coral reef is measured by the life and diversity of the entire reef ecosystem, not just by the health and abundance of corals. When coral populations are significantly reduced, there is a reduction in populations of other reef animals. Many marine animals use sound to communicate and navigate. Fish whoop, croak, […]
CoTS eDNA
Field trials confirm that the presence and concentration of Crown of Thorns Starfish (CoTS) on any coral reef can be determined from environmental DNA (eDNA) extracted from a small sample of local seawater. This is a very promising advance. Until now the only way to obtain early indication of the next mass outbreak has been […]
Reef research: the brain and other benefits
Why does the Queensland Brain Institute do field research on coral reefs at Lizard Island? It’s because marine animals provide rich insight into the evolution and biological functions of brains (all life evolved from the sea); coral reefs host 25% of all marine species; the Great Barrier Reef is the largest and most important reef […]
Our best-ever $216.35 donation
We recently received a donation of $216.35 from five friends in Northbridge Public School Class 2B: Alice Berkelouw, Tia McIntosh, Beatrice O’Brian, Abbie Harris and Heidi Heap, aged 7 & 8. Tia’s mother told us how it came about. At school the girls had been learning about fundraising, and also about coral bleaching. The bleaching […]
Sailing with the Lizard Island Field Guide
Barbara Banks and her husband Paul are sailors and frequent visitors to Lizard Island aboard their yacht, Aquasafari. Barbara is also a keen photographer and has contributed over 1,080 of the 28,250+ records in the Lizard Island Field Guide (LIFG). Barbara & Paul Banks aboard their yacht. © Barbara Banks The LIFG serves as […]
Ichthyology, eDNA and barcoding
Dr Joseph DiBattista, Ichthyologist Joseph DiBattista is a Research Fellow in the TrEnD Lab at Curtin University. Via a joint appointment, he is also Curator of the Ichthyology Collection at the Australian Museum (AM) and an AMRI researcher, based in Sydney. The AM’s Collection holds about 1.8 million adult and larval specimens and over 10,000 […]
30,000+ years of reef survival
Recently-published research confirms the Great Barrier Reef has been resilient to major changes in climate, sea level and water quality on a 30,000 year timescale. Jody Webster is a marine geoscientist. He participated in our Can We Save the Reef? symposium at the Australian Museum in April 2018. With Yusuke Yokoyama, he led IODP Expedition […]
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