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Planktivorous fish (8, some damselfishes and triggerfishes) transfer energy from zooplankton up to reef predators like jacks (9), [101] which provide top-down control of reefs [102] and are important targets for shoreline recreational fisherfolk. [103] Grazers (10, chubs) help keep coral reefs from being overgrown by macroalgae. [104]
Coral reefs flourish in ocean waters that provide few nutrients. They are most commonly found at shallow depths in tropical waters, but deep water and cold water coral reefs exist on smaller scales in other areas. Shallow tropical coral reefs have declined by 50% since 1950, partly because they are sensitive to water conditions. [9]
Some species are endosymbionts of marine animals and other protists, and play an important part in the biology of coral reefs. Others predate other protozoa, and a few forms are parasitic. Many dinoflagellates are mixotrophic and could also be classified as phytoplankton. The toxic dinoflagellate Dinophysis acuta acquire chloroplasts from its prey.
Marine life, sea life or ocean life is the collective ecological communities that encompass all aquatic animals, plants, algae, fungi, protists, single-celled microorganisms and associated viruses living in the saline water of marine habitats, either the sea water of marginal seas and oceans, or the brackish water of coastal wetlands, lagoons ...
Lagoons are areas that are separated from larger water by natural barriers such as coral reefs or sandbars. There are two types of lagoons, coastal and oceanic/atoll lagoons. [23] A coastal lagoon is, as the definition above, simply a body of water that is separated from the ocean by a barrier.
General characteristics of a large marine ecosystem (Gulf of Alaska). Marine life, sea life or ocean life is the collective ecological communities that encompass all aquatic animals, plants, algae, fungi, protists, single-celled microorganisms and associated viruses living in the saline water of marine habitats, either the sea water of marginal seas and oceans, or the brackish water of coastal ...
On vertical rock faces of reefs, or in deep water. [2] Hexacorallia: Corallimorpharia Corallimorphs or coral anemones: Discosoma sp. Large, solitary polyps similar to sea anemones, but with stumpy columns and large oral discs with many short tentacles. Catch large prey and some species zooxanthellate. [2] On coral reefs, mostly tropical. [2 ...
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 ...