Steven Morris
Source: The Guardian
May 14, 2010

Baby corals find their way to reefs by detecting the sound of snapping shrimps and grunting fish, scientists revealed today.

It had long been assumed that coral larvae drift aimlessly after being released by their parent colonies and almost by chance land back on reefs. But scientists now believe that though they are anatomically very simple, the larvae can pick up the sound of a reef and head towards it.

The discovery is worrying as it is feared the larvae might also be drawn to dangerous man-made sounds in increasingly noisy oceans or struggle to find reefs because human noise masks their sound.

To read the full text of the article, click here.