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Article: Coral Reefs
- Article from:
- Earth Explorer
CopyrightProvided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Earth Explorer
02-01-1995
Coral Reefs: Wealth Underwater
Coral reefs are one of the richest and most complex ecosystems in the ocean. A huge variety of plants and animals make their home in the warm waters around coral reefs.
A coral reef looks like a large, colorful rock, but it is mostly the skeletons of millions of tiny animals called coral polyps. Colonies of about 2,500 different species of corals live in the oceans, virtually all of them in the shallow water off tropical coasts. Their names tell of the variety of shapes they form--from brain coral (round shapes with grooves) to elkhorn coral that branches just like the horns of an elk.
Groups of animals of a single species are ...
Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:
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Article: Coral reefs: the changing of the guard.
Odyssey;
May 1, 2007 ;
700+ words
... ... Meanwhile, in the absence of sunlight, the plants inside the coral shut down. Coral comes in many forms--including brain coral, cactus coral, finger coral, and plate coral--but they all "blossom" after sunset. Under the beam of a diver's ...
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