Fishdunnit! Mystery solved(r existing knowledge of fish biology sho...)

"Depletion of fish stocks due to overfishing will obviously influence global calcium carbonate production attributable to fish, but the prediction of the impact of overexploitation is complex. Smaller fish which often result from exploitation produce more calcium carbonate for the same unit of biomass than bigger fish, a simple consequence of higher mass-specific metabolic rates in the smaller animals. In addition, the chemical nature of the calcium carbonate produced by fish, which determines solubility, almost certainly will depend on temperature, fish species, ambient pH and CO2 levels among other factors. The influence of such factors on this newly recognized and significant contribution to oceanic carbon cycling offers an exciting challenge for further study" said Grosell, associate professor of Marine Biology and Fisheries at the Rosenstiel School.

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