One thousand ceramic razorfish shells have been buried in the seabed of waters off South Australia's Kangaroo Island to help encourage a threatened native flat oyster species to rejuvenate.
Handmade clay shells have been crafted by a ceramist who specialises in conservation projects
Coasts project officer Alex Comino said the concept behind the reefs was to replicate what could already be found in the natural environment, and what native angasi oysters showed a preference for in the wild to attach themselves to in order to grow. "We were looking to create an artificial but biodegradable mimic of those razorfish and have them installed on our reefs," she said.Ms Comino says the shells, which protrude from the seabed, provide ideal substrates for micro and macro marine organisms to settle and grow upon.Want more local news? Sign up to ABC South East SA's weekly email newsletter.
"A lot of the roads and buildings that you see in Adelaide and some of the older cities around the southern coast of Australia have pretty much been built on old oyster shells," Ms Comino said.Despite the millions of angasi larvae that float through Kangaroo Island waters each summer, Ms Comino says the absence of any substrate means many do not survive.
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