SO what is a coral reef anyway?
You may be asking yourself, "What is a coral reef anyway?" We've seen a lot of pictures of coral reefs, but do we actually know what they are?
Coral reefs are made up of tiny coral animals belonging to the group cnidaria. They are sessile organisms, which are organisms that are fixed in one spot. Coral live in small colonies. Each colony is called a polyp. The polyps secrete a hard calcium carbonate skeleton for protection. If a predator approaches, the polyp will shrink into the shell. The shell also serves as a base on top of which the polyps grow. As more polyps grow, they add on layers of the shell which lets the coral reef expand. The reef can grow anywhere from .3cm to 10cm each year. Several types of coral with different patterns exist in one reef, causing much diversity in the reef
Coral reefs are made up of tiny coral animals belonging to the group cnidaria. They are sessile organisms, which are organisms that are fixed in one spot. Coral live in small colonies. Each colony is called a polyp. The polyps secrete a hard calcium carbonate skeleton for protection. If a predator approaches, the polyp will shrink into the shell. The shell also serves as a base on top of which the polyps grow. As more polyps grow, they add on layers of the shell which lets the coral reef expand. The reef can grow anywhere from .3cm to 10cm each year. Several types of coral with different patterns exist in one reef, causing much diversity in the reef