Corals Fight Back -- Fish Beware!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009

TAU student snaps a jellyfish-eating coral

Corals are known to eat plankton and tiny jellyfish, but for the first time ever, a Tel Aviv University Ph.D. student, Omri Bronstein, has discovered a coral devouring a large adult jellyfish, the BBC reports.

"During a survey we were amazed to see some mushroom corals actively feeding on moon jellyfish," says Ada Alamaru, another member of the research team working under Prof. Yossi Loya of TAU's Department of Zoology. "We couldn't believe our eyes."

The researchers suggest that the coral may be responding to changes in their underwater climate. As an "indicator species," sensitive coral have been among the first to die as the marine environment heats up. They may be fighting back by radically changing their diets — to the dismay, perhaps, of their jellyfish neighbors.

Read the BBC story for the mouth-watering details:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8350000/8350972.stm