Coral reef fishes prove invaluable in the study of evolutionary ecology
After reviewing recent research based on the study of habitat-specialist coral reef fishes, Boston University post-doctoral researcher Marian Y. L. Wong and Peter M. Buston, assistant professor of biology, have found that these species have proven invaluable for experimental testing of key concepts in social evolution, noting that studies of these fishes already have yielded insights about the ultimate reasons for female reproductive suppression, group living, and bidirectional sex change. Based on this impressive track record, the researchers maintain that these fishes should be the focus of future tests of key concepts in evolutionary ecology. Their findings are published in an article titled "Social Systems in Habitat-Specialist Reef Fishes: Key Concepts in Evolutionary Ecology" in the June 2013 issue of the journal BioScience.