Coral reefs all over the world are in serious danger. However, a critical way to keep reefs healthy likely comes from a lowly animal, some of whom spray goo out of their butts in self-defense. According to a study published February 26 in the journal Nature Communications, about 25 percent of coral reef’s health is dependent on sea cucumbers that keep the reefs clean.Â
[Related: Surprise! These sea cucumbers glow.]
Over harvesting a critical member of the reef
Coral reefs currently face numerous threats, from ocean temperatures soaring to 100 degrees Fahrenheit to light harming their reproduction to bleaching. Reef health also may depend on sea cucumbers and the role that they play in the reef ecosystem. There are more than 1,200 species of sea cucumbers in the world’s oceans. These marine invertebrates can be less than an inch long up to six feet long and use their butts for both eating and breathing. They gobble up sediments on the ocean floor and on coral reefs similar to robot vacuum cleaners, sucking up, digesting, and then excreting sediments and eating bacteria. However, sea cucumbers have been over harvested for hundreds of years and cannot cannot reproduce in low density areas and are much more difficult to find.
“Humans have largely extirpated sea cucumbers from much of the world’s oceans and are still collecting thousands of tons per year,” Georgia Tech university marine ecologist Mark Hay tells PopSci.Â
Between 2022 and 2020, annual wild harvests of sea cucumbers increased by about 30 percent. According to the authors of this study, this overharvesting is likely having direct effects on reefs, since removing predators from the ecosystem can have cascading effects on the ecosystem. Overhunting of otters for their pelts has led to degradation of kelp forests in California. Wolves can help keep…
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