The Rain forests of the Sea
Nicole Golub
Intro
It really is incredible to think that there are over 70,000 types of coral living in the ocean! It is so interesting to know about a coral’s habitat, diet, and structure, and I never knew these marvelous, fluorescent organisms in the ocean have so much intriguing information about them. Coral are important to the ocean and society today because they provide medicine, offer habitats for other organisms, and act as a breeding ground for marine life.
Diet
These super multi-colored marine life have a very unique diet. Coral eat small organisms called plankton and algae. These organisms provide nutrients for coral so their life span extends.Also, a food favorite would be fish and shrimp. Did you know that if a coral can get enough nutrients then it could be possible for them to live up to 10 million years? Just like a jellyfish, coral have tentacles used to paralyze their prey. These stingers are called nematocysts. As the coral grows, it forms a stomach and mouth and the upper part of their body becomes dome-shaped. The tentacles surround the mouth and they are used to pull in food from the water.
Habitat
The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is their most well-known habitat, but coral live their underwater lives in many other places. The largest coral reefs are found in the Pacific and Indian oceans. They can be found in the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and southern Florida. Coral reefs build underwater habitats that are important for other marine life, almost as if they are running an underwater hotel. Other times organisms use coral as a hiding place from predators. Can you believe that since coral provides so many benefits that it is illegal to damage it or sell it without a license? In areas where water is below 70 degrees Fahrenheit is where coral like to build habitats. Some live as deep as 19,000 feet, which is about 3 miles! Other types of coral live in shallow water of 300 feet because light needs to penetrate for their survival.
Movement and Body Structure/appearance
These magnificent sea animals have an interesting structure and appearance due to the fact that they don’t look like your typical marine life. Did you know some coral range from 0.04 to 1.2 inches? Although some can grow up to 10 inches. A regular tea cup is about the same size as some coral. It’s amazing to know that coral only grow 2 centimeters per year, which explains why some are as small as a tea cup! On the other hand, some of these marvelous creatures are gargantuan and weigh several tons, even the strongest man on earth couldn’t lift one of these bad boys! The coral reefs are the ones that are huge and weigh a lot because a coral reef is a whole group of coral together. In addition, coral have so many beautiful colors. They can be vivid yellows, purples, pink, blue, vibrant shades of red and much more. If you look closely some resemble brains, trees, and even honeycombs. They look so awesome that they are often called the “rain forests of the sea.” Naturally, coral have to have some sort of defense since they are immobile and can’t move away from predators. Their tentacles, usually six or eight are attached to them and provide them with protection. This makes coral kind of related to jellyfish because they are invertebrate and have tentacles to sting and eat their prey.
Conclusion
It really is fascinating to learn about a coral’s diet, habitat, and structure. I never knew coral can live up to 10 million years! Coral are incredible creatures and when scuba divers take a glimpse of these beautiful sea animals, they can’t believe their eyes. The world today wouldn’t be the same without these magnificent marine life!
Coral Quizzle
Test your knowledge on coral by taking this quizzle!
My Diorama
Take a glimpse of my under the sea diorama that I made in school!
Coral Poem
Here I wrote a poem in Google Draw about how coral are so great!
Go Fish
I had so much fun participating in the Go Fish part of our Australia unit! My favorite part was picking the fish to go into the aquarium. Here are the fish I chose: one Bleeding Heart Tetra (3in, $5.19), one Elephant Ear Halfmoon Betta (2in, $25.00), two of the Blue Damsel (2in, $4.23), one Green Mandarin Goby (4in, $14.00), one Strawberry Dottyback (3.5in, $10.00), and one Lyretail Anthias (4in, $25.59). The subtotal inches of fish was 20.5 inches. I came $1.07 over my budget and thankfully the teachers let it slide. The tank was a 20 gallon tank to support all the fish. I bought 6 decorations for the little fishys to hide and swim through along with food, thermometer, salt, gravel, filter cartridges, and a filter. I had $91.29 to spend on live fish. This was one of my favorite parts of our Australia unit and if only this aquarium could come to life, everything would be so much better!
Video on Coral Reef
Life On The Coral Reef [HD]