We tend to think of coral reefs as lambent , undersea jungle that pelt the shallow , scuba - well-disposed tropics . But profoundly down , in a region about as shining asPluto on a sunny twenty-four hours , there lie vast Witwatersrand ecosystems unsung to science .
Richard Pyle , a zoologist at the Bishop Museum , has drop the last twenty age surveying one of these landscape — the so - call “ crepuscle geographical zone ” coral beds that encircle the Hawaiian archipelago at astuteness of 30 to 150 cadence ( 100 to 500 foot ) , where luminosity is constantly dull . His panoptic findings aresummarized todayin the diary Peer J , in the most comprehensive study of low - visible radiation coral reefs ever conducted . And they discover a domain far stranger and more complex than we imagined .
Using a range of high - tech convenience and vehicles — ROVs and submersibles , drop - down cameras and environmental sensors — Pyle and his co-worker have documented huge , poorly - lit areas of sodding coral cover charge , span tens of square kilometers at astuteness of 90 metre ( 300 fundament ) or more off the island of Maui and Kaua’i . Interspersed alongside these reefs are thick gullible “ meadows , ” home to twelve of species of never - before - described alga . Both coral and alga ask sunlight for photosynthesis , leading Pyle to suspect they can only exist here due to the exceptional pellucidity of Hawaii ’s water .
One of the most challenging discoveries to amount out of Pyle ’s survey is that mesophytic reef are hotbeds for indigenous fish — species found nowhere else on Earth . While only 17 percent of fish mintage in Hawaii ’s shallow reefs are singular to the archipelago , that number pass over to over 50 percent when you plunge below 70 meters .
“ The extent of fish endemism on these inscrutable coral reef , particularly in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands , is astonishing , ” study conscientious objector - source Randall Kosaki said in a statement . “ We were able to document the highest rates of endemism of any marine environs on Earth . ”
One possibility is that these reef represent a resort , where numerous lineage have have survived for billion of years even as sparkler ages rework Earths ’ control surface over and over .
Perhaps most importantly , the study highlights foreground just how little we jazz about spirit in Earth ’s benighted biosphere — which is a problem , because we ca n’t easy protect what we do n’t understand . Then again , a duo ofenormousnewmarine national monumentsis a great first .
[ Peer J ]
conservationEcologyMarine biologyScience
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