University of Queensland fish researcher Kathy Townsend probably gets more bites than most anglers.
In summer, she has clocked more than 4000 of them per day in laboratory and field studies, from just one Great Barrier Reef fish species.
Ms Townsend, a PhD student and tutor in the University's Zoology Department, is painstakingly counting the number of bites that five fish species take a day while grazing on micro-algae in coral reefs.
The time-consuming work to note each bite taken is part of a complex project on the role of herbivorous fish in maintaining the balance between algae and coral-based reef systems.
The study aims to provide the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority with valuable information on which to make future management decisions regarding conservation of the reef. It will also help fulfil Australia's obligations to the marine environment under relevant international agreements and conventions.
Ms Townsend said marine conservation was a relatively new field and the conservation status of most species of grazers was poorly known.
'Interactions between micro-algae, coral growth and grazers is often speculated upon, but little quantitative data has been collected,' she said.
In a study supervised by Dr Ian Tibbetts (Zoology Department) and Dr Mike Bennett (Anatomical Sciences Department) she is examining marine vegetarians common around Heron Island near Gladstone, and Lady Musgrave Reef near Bundaberg.
They include blennies and damsel fish (which grow to 10cm long), parrot fish, surgeon fish and rabbit fish (growing to 50cm), starfish, whelks, and herbivorous crabs.
The project is unlocking information ranging from fish population distributions and densities in reef zones over four distinct seasons, to the quantities of algae and dead coral rubble consumed.
Ms Townsend, who is based at the University's Heron Island Research Station, said while some researchers had examined the influence of grazers on newly-settled coral colonies, few researchers had looked at their effect on mature coral.
She said recording the number of bites a fish took a day, and estimating quantities eaten per bite, obviously would not appeal to everyone.
However, it was an important task, as herbivorous fish were thought to contribute significantly to the balance of life in coral systems, keeping algae in check to allow coral growth.
'Coral grows on average one to 10 centimetres a year in good light and low nutrient conditions,' she said.
'Algae, on the other hand, can grow a centimetre in a couple of days in higher light and nutrient conditions.'
'Without the presence of herbivores, which are predators of algae, coral could be smothered and killed.
'The diurnal blenny, for example, will take 4000 bites between dawn and dusk in summer, or 2000 in winter, eating to five grams a day dry weight of food - up to three grams more than its own body weight.'
Ms Townsend said there were many examples of marine ecosystems, such as in the Caribbean, where coral-based systems had been converted to algal-based systems, with huge carry-on effects for organisms which depended on coral for their existence.
Born in Calgary, 1000km from the nearest ocean, Ms Townsend has been interested in marine biology since she was old enough to say 'Jacques Cousteau'.
Her father, a teacher and avid sailor, developed her love and respect for the sea.
Ms Townsend was attracted to marine studies at the University of Queensland, completing a bachelor of science honours degree in 1995.
She specialised in studying blennies, and in one year studied 27 separate species, four of which were unknown to science.
'They're not a commercial fish, and they're tiny and difficult to catch from their hiding places in coral cracks where they avoid predators such as coral trout and reef egrets,' she said.
'Blennies are very visual animals, beautiful with big eyes on the top of their heads, making them look like Muppets ?of the sea.'
Based at Heron Island for the past two years, and an Australian citizen since last year, she says she 'loves it' when other people are as enthusiastic as she is about the research station's world-class facilities and access to reef environments.
Research assistant Christine Clegg and Ms Townsend's husband Kevin, who is the Heron Island Research Station maintenance officer, are among many people helping her in her project.
For further information, contact Ms Townsend, telephone 079 781 399, email: hirs@mailbox.uq.edu.au
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