20 Facts About Coral reef

Coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals.

Coral reef belongs to the class Anthozoa in the animal phylum Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones and jellyfish.

Coral reef theorized that uplift and subsidence of Earth's crust under the oceans formed the atolls.

Fringing Coral reef, called a shore Coral reef, is directly attached to a shore, or borders it with an intervening narrow, shallow channel or lagoon.

The surface of the fringe Coral reef generally remains at the same height: just below the waterline.

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Above all, the offshore outer Coral reef edge formed in open water rather than next to a shoreline.

Coral reef ecosystems contain distinct zones that host different kinds of habitats.

Each Coral reef is made up of irregular patches of algae, sessile invertebrates, and bare rock and sand.

Coral reef heads consist of accumulations of individual animals called polyps, arranged in diverse shapes.

Coral reef polyps do not photosynthesize, but have a symbiotic relationship with microscopic algae of the genus Symbiodinium, commonly referred to as zooxanthellae.

Coral reef that loses a large fraction of its zooxanthellae becomes white and is said to be bleached, a condition which, unless corrected, can kill the coral.

However many other organisms living in the reef community contribute skeletal calcium carbonate in the same manner as corals.

The largest and strongest corals grew in parts of the reef exposed to the most violent surf and corals were weakened or absent where loose sediment accumulated.

Those settling on the Coral reef include many other species, particularly crustaceans and polychaete worms.

Coral reef systems provide important habitats for seabird species, some endangered.

Large-scale systematic study of the Jarvis Island coral community, which experienced ten El Nino-coincident coral bleaching events from 1960 to 2016, found that the reef recovered from almost complete death after severe events.

Coral reef restoration has grown in prominence over the past several decades because of the unprecedented reef die-offs around the planet.

Coral reef gardens take advantage of a coral's natural ability to fragment and continuing to grow if the fragments are able to anchor themselves onto new substrates.

One case study with coral reef restoration was conducted on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.

Times of maximum reef development were in the Middle Cambrian, Devonian and Carboniferous, owing to order Rugosa extinct corals and Late Cretaceous and all Neogene, owing to order Scleractinia corals.