Shallow-water (12-37 m) eastern Gulf of Mexico reef biotas suffered damage during the exceptionally cold winters of 1977 and 1978. Certain fishes were killed or sustained injury either directly from the cold or from physical abrasion against the reef, during heavy bottom surge accompanying cold front passage. Reef corals were overturned or torn from their reef attachment during periods of heavy bottom surge. Recovery time for these impacts is not known.
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