In the Central Red Sea, healthy coral reefs meet intense coastal development, but there are almost no data on the effects of this development on coral reefs. This in situ study investigated how the settlement of reef invertebrates might be affected by overfishing and eutrophication via fertilizer. The results suggest that if these effects are not brought under control, we may see a shift from dominance by hard corals to that of other invertebrates at shaded reef locations, hence affecting coral reef ecology