basic facts

• Coral is a small marine animal.
• Coral stays in the same place it's whole life.
• Coral has a hard skeleton made of calcium carbonate also called limestone.
• When coral die their skeleton remains.
• Corals are very colorful underwater,but most fade when they die or they are removed from the water.
• Corals are anthozoans the largest class of organism in the phylum Cnidaria.
• There is also soft coral that can not be in a reef because it lacks a hard skeleton.
• Massive reefs form when each stony coral polyp creates a skeleton of CaCO3.
• The million of polyps that make up coral could be alive or dead.

Corals water

• Corals are found across the worlds ocean,but building coral are only found in sub-tropical waters.
• The algae found in the corals tissue uses photosynthesis and need water temperatures between seventy- eighty-five degrees.
• Coral reefs like to live in shallow water of less than 150 feet.
• In recent years scientist have found coral reefs starting to grow in colder waters.
• Coral reefs live in clear waters.
• The coldest water that coral can live in is sixty-eight degrees.
• The reefs live where there is a lot of wave action because waves bring in food,nutrients,and oxygen to the reef.
• Coral reefs help improve surrounding waters.
• Corals are being killed by the rise in water tempertures.
• Reefs need calcium to grow in water, which is more available in shallow warm waters.

The Great Barrier

• The largest coral reef in the world is the Great Barrier Reef, which is 1,250 miles long.
• Coral is very important to people too, perhaps 172 billion dollars each year come from coral.
• Coral is being used in medicine to cure cancer and HIV.
• Coral reefs are also called "the rainforest of the sea".
• Coral reefs are a big tourist attraction.
• The Great Barrier Reef is actually made up of 900 smaller reefs.

Threats

• A threat to coral is rising water temperatures causing the loss of the microscopic algae that produce food know as coral bleaching.
• Seaweeds are dangerous competitors, as they typically grow much faster than corals,and may contain chemicals.
• Over fishing is becoming a huge problem to coral reefs.
• Pollution like sewage is causing coral to be smothered by algae.
• Eighty percent of coral reefs are endangered and of fifty percent them will be gone by 2030.
• Deforestation hastens soil erosion, which clouds water-smothering corals.

Population

• About one/third of all marine fish live at least part of there life in the reef.
• Reef building corals are like animals that act like animals that act like plants.
• Fish,invertebrates,algae,and microorganisms make there home in the reef.
• Coral reefs are home to twenty-five of all marine life.
• Coral reefs are home to around two million species.
• It takes up to 10,000 years for a coral reef to form from larvae.
• Coral reefs are the largest structures on each of biological orgin.

Feeding

• Coral is less tasty as an adult,but some fish,worms,and sea stars will still prey on coral.
• Corals feed at night with the help of their tentacles.
• Coral eats zooplankton and small fish.
• Corals grow very slowly, only two tenths to eight tenth inch a year.
• A single coral polyp can grow as large as twenty-five centimeters in diameter.

Types of Reefs

• Coral reefs start when free swimming coral larvae attach to an island or continents.
• There are three types of reefs fringing,barrier,and atoll.
• Darwin made a chart that showed that fringing and barrier reefs are creating an atoll reef.
• Fringing reefs occur along shorelines.
• Barrier reefs are found farther off coast than fringing reefs.
• Atoll reefs are low corals around a central lagoon.

Extra facts

• The red coral does not lose it's color,so it is used in jewelry.
• All the reefs in the world only add up to one percent of the oceans floor.
• Corals are ancient animals that are related to jellyfish and anemones.
• Coral has been found as fossils that are 400 million years old.
• Coral types can be determined by size,shape,and color.
• Coral reefs have color because of the algae.
• Corals protect cost lines from storms and provide jobs to people all around the world.

Work Cited

KDE Santa Barbara. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

"Basic Facts About Coral Reefs." Defenders of Wildlife. 16 Sept. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

"Coral." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 3 Feb. 2017. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.

"Coral Facts." Math. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

"Coral Reefs." WWF. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

Frost, Emily. "Corals and Coral Reefs." Ocean Portal | Smithsonian. Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, 30 Aug. 2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

"Just Fun Facts." Fun and Interesting Site. 01 Jan. 1969. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "NOAA's Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS) - What Are Coral Reefs." NOAA Coral Reef Information System (CoRIS) Home Page. 12 Oct. 2007. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.