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Food by day, shelter at night

At night, illuminated by the photographer’s flash, a brilliant 18-inch-long parrotfish hides in a niche surrounded by equally brilliant corals in the Red Sea. In daylight, parrotfishes feed on coral, using sharp teeth and strong jaws to scrape off and chew pieces of the living reef. They consume coral tissue and eliminate crushed coral skeleton, creating the coral sand that forms tropical beaches around the world. WHOI researchers are studying aspects of Red Sea coral reef ecosystems as part of a collaborative partnership with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. This image is featured in the new 2009 WHOI wall calendar, available for purchase online at the WHOI Store.
(Photo by Jessie Kneeland, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)