Young parrotfish rapidly expand their coral reef home range but only until they reach adulthood, scientists have found.
Researchers in Australia mapped the movements of individuals from very young juveniles to mature adults.
They found that small parrotfish quickly expanded their range as soon as they settled on a reef.
This expansion stopped when the fish matured, and their final home range was unrelated to adult body size.
The results are published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Most animals move within a home range; the size of which is driven by avoiding predators, finding food and reproducing.
"In many studies which look at coral reef fish movements, we see a significant relationship reported between body size and home range," explained lead researcher Justin Welsh from James Cook University, Australia.
The team identified 75 individual fish by size, colour markings and scars from three species of parrotfish.
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