Coral Reef Animals are the most conspicuous component of coral reef life, occurring in truly astounding numbers and variety...
Coral reefs are marine structures created by calcifying coral animals and their algal symbionts. Coral reef ecosystems are generally high in biodiversity, most often found in shallow tropical seas, and are threatened by factors including ocean acidification, global warming and sea level rise. ...
Coral Reef Fish are fish species that live in close relation with the coral reefs. Click for Coral Reef Fish facts and worksheets in PDF format!
The “Heart Reef”, which forms part of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia A lot of animals who live on the reefcamouflagethemselves to blend amongst the coral, either to stay safe from other animals or to hide as they hunt. Plantsalso live on reefs.Algaelive inside soft coral, using s...
The reef structure provides a home for thousands of other forms of ocean life.Some of these are tiny plants and animals that grow and live inside the reefs.Others are bigger sea animals that come to find food and shelter(掩蔽处).Together, all these plants and animals form an ecosystem(生态...
Trophic interactions have led to an endless array of predatory and defensive adaptations. Scorpion fish and frog fish have adapted camouflage to blend in with the surrounding reef (Figure 10). Sessile organisms, such as sponges, produce chemical compounds that deter predation (Pawliket al. 1995)....
Coralreefsarehometomorethan25%ofallseaanimals.About850millionpeopledependonthemforfoodandliving.But70%-90%oftheworld'scoralreefsmaydisappearbytheyearof2050duetooceanwarmingandpollution.TheAllenCoralAtlas(ACA),thefirstreal-timeglobalcoralreefsmap,hasbeenrecentlycreatedtohelptumthesituationaround.Themapisnamed...
Structural complexity provided by the living coral reef framework is the basis of the rich and dynamic biodiversity in coral reefs. In many cases today, the reduction in habitat complexity, from live coral to dead coral and rubble, has altered the abundance and diversity of many reef species wi...
(Burns and Ilan2003). However, many reef fishes have strong jaws and pharyngeal teeth, capable of grinding the limestone skeletons of hard corals and molluscan shells, so siliceous spicules and spongin should not be problematic (Pawlik2011). Yet, the morphological adaptations of fishes that allow...
The Great Barrier Reef is stunningly beautiful, but it's also extremely valuable. The plants and animals that live in coral reefs are incredibly diverse, so much so that coral reefs are often described as the rainforests of the sea.