Traits for Water Quality organisms

Banded Coral Shrimp

Feeding Shrimp, Set up “Cleaning Stations” that create a mutualist relationship with fishes.

Butterfly Fish

Feed on hard coral, bony armored babies, false eyespots to escape predators

Crown of Thorns Starfish

Venomous Saponin, feeds buy liquifying tissue into “soup”, consumes hard coral, outbreaks indicates Nutrient Pollution

Fleshy Algae

Producers, mutualistic relationship with coral. Comes in Red, Green, Brown colors primarily.

Hard stony coral

Made up of CaCO3 (Calcium Carbonate/Aragonite)

Grouper

Predators, Vacuum mouth with little teeth, sex-changing

Lobster

Omnivores with teeth in their stomach, blue blood, can regenerate

Long-spined black sea urchin

Grazers that prevent the overgrowth of algae/kelp, aid coral by clearing up space, habitat for small fish

Moray Eel

Carnivorous Predators that control invasive species, can form a mutualist relationship either groupers when hunting

Parrotfish

Herbivorous grazers that bite and grinds coral rock/algae (which excretes/makes sand and cycle back nutrients into water)

Pencil Urchin

Herbivorous Grazers that scrape benthic organisms to prevent overgrowth. Provides physical shelter for organisms.

Sea Cucumber

Benthic Deposit Feeders that redistribute seabed sediment (bioturbation) contributing to nutrient recycling and combatting ocean acidification

Snapper

Carnivorous predators that preserve biodiversity

Demosponge

Obtains food through filter feeding (pumps water through pores, capturing tiny particles/bacteria)

Sweetlips

Predators that control invertebrates and form a mutualist relationship with banded coral shrimp (teeth cleaning)

Triton

Predator of (specifically of crown-of-thorns starfish, which is poisonous) preventing coral reef destruction

Barramundi Cod

Carnivorous bottom dwelling predator

Bumphead Parrotfish

Feeds on live coral colonies controlling coral and algae development. Grinding of coral skeleton produces sand.

Giant Clams

Gets most nutrition from photosynthetic algae (Zooxanthellae) living in its tissue, Filtrates water combatting eutrophication and improving clarity, Nursery for organisms

Humphead Wrasse

Predators (esp fish/invertebrate like crown-of-thorms starfish), can also help shape physicsl structure of coral reefs

Flamingo Tongue Snail

Grazer of coral, signals to other organisms of toxic coral

Nassau Grouper

Carnivorous predator that prevents overgrazing