Severe consequences for anemonefishes and their host sea anemones during the 2016 bleaching event at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef

Abstract

[Extract] Elevated sea surface temperatures between February and April 2016 resulted in the most extensive and severe thermal bleaching event on record on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), with the majority of northern reefs experiencing extreme bleaching (>60% of corals bleached) (Hughes et al. 2017). Most research has documented the effects of the bleaching on reef building corals, yet there are less-studied microhabitats that bleach, such as sea anemones that provide essential habitat for one of the reefs most iconic fishes, the anemonefishes.