A blenny in shellfish reef habitat. Image: Lisa Bostrom-Einarsson
A Marine Biodiversity Hub project that has provided a knowledge-base for restoring a near-extinct marine ecosystem last night won the Eureka Prize for Applied Environmental Research.
Gideon Heller-Wagner and Ian McLeod of James Cook University survey remnant oyster reefs on intertidal mudflats of the Richmond River at Ballina, NSW. Image: Pat Dwyer, NSW DPI
A beneficiary of restoration. The Oyster Blenny, Omobranchus anolius, seeks shelter inside oyster shells when danger approaches. They are often seen peering out of the shells, assessing the surrounding area from the relative safety of the oysters. Image: Lisa Bostrom-Einarsson
Most of Australia's once-widespread shellfish reefs have disappeared. A Hub study finds there is still time to arrest the decline, provided the threats that caused their destruction can be curtailed.
Project co-leader Dr Ian McLeod of TropWATER, James Cook University at an Isognomon ephippium, (leaf oyster) reef in Hinchinbrook Channel, Queensland. Image: Ross Johnson
