Coral reef fish may be more important than we thought

Coral reefs and their associated fish communities evoke images of vibrant colors flashing in tropical waters, with a high diversity of life. That is what the vast majority of people imagine when thinking about the oceans, thanks to Jacques Cousteau, David Attenborough, and entire generations of Discovery/Nat Geo/Travel channel specials. But coral reef fishes are also a major source of food for a lot of Island States and small-scale fisheries around the world. In the work by Zamborain-Mason et al. (1), they demonstrate potentially just how important such reef fishes can be for those localities. Generally, people do not fully grasp the benefits of coral reef habitats and fisheries for coastal and island communities; largely because people generally do not grasp the amount of fish production of which a coral reef is capable.