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Coral reefs are the most diverse of all marine ecosystems. They teem with life, with perhaps one-quarter of all ocean species depending on reefs for food and shelter. This is a remarkable statistic when you consider that reefs cover just a tiny fraction (less than one percent) of the earth’s surface and less than two percent of the ocean bottom.
- Corals and Their Kind
- From Polyp to Reef
- Where Reefs Exist
- The Structure of Coral Reefs
- References
Corals are anthozoans, the largest class of organisms within the phylum Cnidaria. Comprising over 6,000 known species, anthozoans also include sea fans, sea pansies and anemones. Stony corals (scleractinians) make up the largest order of anthozoans, and are the group primarily responsible for laying the foundations of, and building up, reef structu...
Massive reef structures are formed when each stony coral polyp secretes a skeleton of CaCO3. Most stony corals have very small polyps, averaging 1 to 3 mm in diameter, but entire colonies can grow very large and weigh several tons. Although all corals secrete CaCO3, not all are reef builders. Some corals, such as Fungia sp., are solitary and have s...
Reef-building corals are restricted in their geographic distribution. This is because the algal-cnidarian symbiotic machinery needs a narrow and consistent band of environmental conditions to produce the copious quantities of limestone necessary for reef formation. The formation of highly consolidated reefs only occur where the temperature does not...
Coral reefs begin to form when free-swimming coral larvae (planulae) attach to the submerged edges of islands or continents. As the corals grow and expand, reefs take on one of three major characteristic structures—fringing, barrier or atoll.Fringing reefs, which are the most common, project seaward directly from the shore, forming borders along th...
Barnes, R.D. 1987. Invertebrate Zoology;Fifth Edition. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers. pp. 92-96, 127-134, 149-162. Barnes, R.S.K. and R.N. Hughes. 1999. An Introduction to Marine Ecology; third edition. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Science Ltd. pp. 117-141. Lalli, C.M. and T.R. Parsons. 1995. Biological Oceanography: An Intr...
Feb 1, 2019 · Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. Coral polyps, the animals primarily responsible for building reefs, can take many forms: large reef building colonies, graceful flowing fans, and even small, solitary organisms.
- Coral. Coral is the heart of coral reefs. Despite looking like sea plants, corals are actually animals. Individual coral polyps live in large, close-knit colonies that create coral reefs.
- Day Octopus. The day octopus inhabits coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. Its range extends from the east coast of Africa to Hawaii. These medium-large cephalopods are closely related to squids and cuttlefish.
- Red-banded Coral Shrimp. The red-banded coral shrimp is widely distributed in many different oceans. It can be found in coral reef habitats in tropical waters.
- Zebra Moray. The zebra moray is a type of eel named for its zebra-like stripes along its body. Zebra morays inhabit holes and crevices in coral reefs.
Atlantic Coral Reef is an immersive habitat replicating a Caribbean reef and spanning two stories of the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland.
Animals found within coral reefs come in all shapes and sizes, from large reef-building colonies to solitary organisms. These unique ecosystems play a crucial role in supporting a myriad of aquatic life, including hammerhead and tiger sharks, sea turtles, and the vibrant orange lyretail anthias.
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Oct 19, 2023 · The most familiar type of natural reef, however, is the coral reef. These multicolored limestone ridges are built by tiny sea animals called corals. Their hard outer skeletons (exoskeletons) are what make up coral reefs. There are many different kinds of corals.
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