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A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. [1] Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Coral belongs to the class Anthozoa in the animal phylum Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones and ...
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 ...
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 ...
The classification of corals has been discussed for millennia, owing to having similarities to both plants and animals. Aristotle's pupil Theophrastus described the red coral, korallion, in his book on stones, implying it was a mineral, but he described it as a deep-sea plant in his Enquiries on Plants, where he also mentions large stony plants that reveal bright flowers when under water in ...
Other common species of hard coral found on the Florida Reef include Ivory Bush Coral (Oculina diffusa), which is the dominant coral in the patch reefs along the Florida coast north of the Florida Keys, staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis), lettuce coral (Agaricia agaricites), grooved brain coral (Diploria labyrinthiformis), boulder star 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 ]
Coral reefs in Haiti cover a stretch of 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) of coast. While it is assessed that the coral reefs are over exploited for fishing, with elkhorn coral put on the US Endangered Species List, the reef structure is stated to be stable and the living coral are generally occupy 10% of reefs, and algae and sponge cover about 50% ...
Corallivory is not always detrimental to coral reefs. If the species of coral being consumed is spatially dominant, grazing can help control growth and promote greater reef diversity. [5] Corallivores are often sensitive to declines in coral health and population size, and are negatively affected during periods of high coral loss. [5]