Local News in Brief : Fullerton : Grant Awarded for Study of Seaweed-Eating Fish

A Cal State Fullerton research professor has been awarded a $220,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for a study of seaweed-eating fish that also may reveal more about disease-fighting compounds in seaweed.

Michael H. Horn, professor of biological science and nationally known for his research on plant-eating fish, will be studying why so few fish living in temperate waters rely solely on a seaweed diet.

Horn said he will not be analyzing seaweed for its potential in fighting human disease. But he said that information he finds about why fish reject certain seaweed may be of value to other researchers who are seeking compounds found in nature that can be used to battle human diseases. Some forms of seaweed produce chemical compounds that tend to repel fish from eating them. Those compounds may, in later research, be found to have medicinal value, Horn said.

As part of his three-year study, Horn will be testing his theory that the differences among seaweed-eating fish are linked to ocean temperature.