The painted goby, a tiny fish that lives in parts of the Mediterranean Sea, is among nature’s premier percussionists. Like a gorilla beating its chest, male painted gobies use a drumming rhythm—a rumbly bum bum bum—to communicate. Yet where a gorilla uses drumming as a display of dominance, a goby drums to find a mate. If a male goby hits the beat just right, he might entice a female to share his nest.
Certain coral reefs that have protected the oceans’ fish for millions of years could be the “Noah’s Ark” that continues to preserve their biodiversity, researchers say.
A study published today in the journal Science said protecting those reefs could play a large part in ensuring future fish diversity in all ocean waters. Stable reefs like those in the Coral Triangle region in and around Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Australia have cradled the world’s most diverse group of fish through ice ages and periods of extreme warmth, the study found.
Joshua Rapp Learn 