Near complete local extinction of iconic anemonefish and their anemone hosts following a heat stress event

A fundamental question in modern-day ecology is: How will populations and their interactions respond to a rapidly changing climate? Documenting local collapses of ecologically and economically important populations can offer insight into broader patterns of decline. Here, we monitored anemonefish (Amphiprion bicinctus) and their host sea anemones (Radianthus magnifica) on three central Saudi Arabian Red Sea reefs from 2022 to 2024, including a 2023 marine heatwave that peaked at a Degree Heating Weeks (DHW) value of ~22 °C-weeks. Across all reefs, we observed a sequence of 100% anemone bleaching, 94.3-100% anemonefish mortality, and 66.4-94.1% anemone mortality. We compare these findings to other recent Indo-Pacific heat stress events of varying intensity, where similar declines were not observed. Our study highlights the vulnerability of mutualistic reef species to extreme heat and suggests that such events may drive local, if not regional, extinctions of ecologically important symbioses.

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Publication Details

Journal
npj Biodiversity
Published
2025-09-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s44185-025-00107-4
Primary Topic
Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Near complete local extinction of iconic anemonefish and their anemone hosts following a heat stress event

Peter Michael Buston, Francisca C. García, Theresa Rueger, Viktor Nunes Peinemann et al.
npj Biodiversity
Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
article

Near complete local extinction of iconic anemonefish and their anemone hosts following a heat stress event

Peter Michael Buston, Francisca C. García, Theresa Rueger, Viktor Nunes Peinemann, Michael L. Berumen, Morgan Bennett‐Smith, Raquel Silva Peixoto, Susana Carvalho, Micaela S. Justo, Helena Villela, Neus Garcías-Bonet, Melissa Versteeg
article en

Abstract

A fundamental question in modern-day ecology is: How will populations and their interactions respond to a rapidly changing climate? Documenting local collapses of ecologically and economically important populations can offer insight into broader patterns of decline. Here, we monitored anemonefish (Amphiprion bicinctus) and their host sea anemones (Radianthus magnifica) on three central Saudi Arabian Red Sea reefs from 2022 to 2024, including a 2023 marine heatwave that peaked at a Degree Heating Weeks (DHW) value of ~22 °C-weeks. Across all reefs, we observed a sequence of 100% anemone bleaching, 94.3-100% anemonefish mortality, and 66.4-94.1% anemone mortality. We compare these findings to other recent Indo-Pacific heat stress events of varying intensity, where similar declines were not observed. Our study highlights the vulnerability of mutualistic reef species to extreme heat and suggests that such events may drive local, if not regional, extinctions of ecologically important symbioses.

npj BiodiversityVol. 4(1)
Boston University (US), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA), Newcastle University (GB)
National Science Foundation, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Openalex Percentile: Top 76%
Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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