Giant plankton could help coral fight climate change
by Lauren Baxter, Queensland University of Technology
June 9, 2025
A QUT researcher has observed a rare ocean phenomenon off the coast of Timor-Leste revealing a surprising ally in the fight for coral reef survival: giant, gelatinous plankton known as pyrosomes.
The study, published in Ecology and led by marine scientist Dr Catherine Kim, from the QUT School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program, documented swarms of Pyrosoma atlanticum along the north coast of the country in late 2019, and a coral on a shallow reef actively feeding on two large ones.
The findings, Dr Kim said, represent a mechanism that may make coral reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef, more resilient to climate change.
Timor-Leste, one of the world’s youngest nations, sits within the Coral Triangle, a marine biodiversity hotspot stretching across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
The region is home to the highest levels of marine biodiversity in the world.
“Corals are often seen as passive feeders reliant on sunlight and algae, but in reality, they’re much more opportunistic – capable of catching and digesting larger plankton when conditions allow,” Dr Kim said.
Keep reading: https://www.qut.edu.au/news?id=200297
Read the Ecology paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70095