Charles Darwin was fascinated on the mystery behind the abundant life that coral reefs have. His fascination was further triggered since the water that surrounds the coral reefs does not contain enough nourishment to support it. Indeed, the clear and blue appearance of water around corals verifies that there are no nutrients in it. However, in some coastal waters such as in British Columbia and Nova Scotia the nourishments present are very evident because of the growth of small plants or phytoplankton.
Before, it is a big question on where do corals get the nutrients they needed but eventually scientists discovered that some of these where supplied through rock erosion, seabird guano, and even human activities that were taken up by phytoplankton and known as Island Mass Effect. Even if it seems that the Island Mass Effect contributed to the bountiful life of coral reefs researchers from the Simon Fraser University found out something more, something with life.
Introducing the cryptobenthic fishes which are distributed across 17 families of reef fishes and 4,000 are seldom seen. They are beautiful, tiny, camouflaged, bottom-dwelling sea creatures which can only grow up to 50 mm. They can be seen in bars, stripes, squiggles, blotches, dots, and stripes in every color of the rainbow. Aside from these, they are unique in terms of their reproductive behaviors like brooding eggs in their mouths, changing their sex, and pairing with shrimps for safety. Some of its species are gobies, cardinalfishes, and blennies which can be seen in hobby saltwater aquaria. Despite these facts, they are hardly noticed because of their size. So, what's the big role of these small fishes in the sea?
The cryptobenthic fishes are one of the sources of energy of the coral reefs, but how come? They only have a short life span of about 59 days and die in droves. With these characteristics, it can be concluded that with this kind of situation, reefs will easily run out of fish but why it did not? This is due to the larval stage that fishes especially for cryptobenthics fishes undergo. Scientists discovered that three quarters of the reefs larvae near the coral reefs are from cryptobenthics. Instead of lingering on the offspring adventure wherein there is a greater exposure to predators and limited availability of food, the cryptobenthics stick to the reefs therefore avoiding the possible dangers in the ocean. On the other hand, the process on how this species do this is still a mystery.
The behavior of these small sea creatures is regarded by the researchers as candies in a bottomless jar that despite grabbing a handful of candies from the jar, it will eventually replenish every time, according to the Conversation.
Researchers emphasized the importance of the smallest creature in the ocean. They might be tiny but they are one of the building blocks that provides the bodies of water with necessary nourishment that they needed.
