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A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem ... environment benefits many coral reef animals, which, for example, may feed in the sea grass and use the reefs for ...
Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. A coral "group" is a colony of very many genetically identical polyps. Each polyp is a sac-like animal typically only a few millimeters in diameter and a few centimeters in height.
Coral reefs contain the most diverse fish assemblages to be found anywhere on earth, with perhaps as many as 6,000–8,000 species dwelling within coral reef ecosystems of the world's oceans. [ 3 ] The mechanisms that first led to, and continue to maintain, such concentrations of fish species on coral reefs has been widely debated over the last ...
However, the obligate corallivore snail, Coralliophila abbreviata, is known to feed on 26 different species of coral and shows no distinct preference for one species. [2] C. abbreviata lacks a radula that would allow it to scrape off coral tissue, so coral is broken down by digestive enzymes. [15] Not all corallivores are detrimental to coral ...
Coral reefs are some of the most biodiverse habitats on earth, supporting large numbers of species of corals, fish, molluscs, worms, arthropods, starfish, sea urchins, other invertebrates and algae. Because of the photosynthetic requirements of the corals, they are found in shallow waters, and many of these fringe land masses. [ 24 ]
The corals are found in shallow, warm-water habitats and form the colourful reefs seen in tropical and sub-tropical ocean areas. Built over tens of thousands of years, coral reefs are the most ...
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Coral Sea as follows: [1]. On the North. The South coast of New Guinea from the entrance to the Bensbak River (141°01'E) to Gado-Gadoa Island near its Southeastern extreme (), down this meridian to the 100 fathom line and thence along the Southern edges of Uluma (Suckling) Reef and those extending to the Eastward as far as ...
There are more than 8,000 animals and 500 species to discover at this Brooklyn-based must-see including southern sea otters which have just arrived, a zebra shark, northern seahorses, and African ...