Mass coral bleaching events driven by climate change devastate reef fish communities, causing acute habitat loss and welfare harm for millions of fish.
The welfare implications of coral bleaching for reef fish are profound and largely invisible. Fish that lose coral shelter become dramatically more vulnerable to predation, causing chronic fear and escape behavior with high energetic costs. Coral-dependent species that feed exclusively on living coral face starvation as their food base dies. Territorial reef fish whose home coral patches bleach face loss of years of territory-building investment. The scale of individual animal welfare impact during bleaching events is enormous given reef fish population sizes. Climate change represents the dominant driver of this welfare catastrophe, connecting individual fish suffering to global greenhouse gas emissions.