New possibilities for research on reef fish across the continental shelf of South Africa : news & views

Subtidal research presents numerous challenges that restrict the ability to answer fundamental ecological questions related to reef systems. These challenges are closely associated with traditional monitoring methods and include depth restrictions (e.g. safe diving depths for underwater visual census), habitat destruction (e.g. trawling), mortality of target species (e.g. controlled angling and fish traps), and high operating costs (e.g. remotely operated vehicles and large research vessels). Whereas many of these challenges do not apply or are avoidable in the shallow subtidal environment, the difficulties grow as one attempts to sample deeper benthic habitats. This situation has resulted in a paucity of knowledge on the structure and ecology of deep water reef habitats around the coast of South Africa, and in most marine areas around the world. Furthermore, the inability to effectively survey deep water benthic environments has limited the capacity of researchers to investigate connectivity between shallow and deep water habitats in a standardised and comparable fashion.