Environment in the Coral Reefs

There are many animal and plants that live in the Coral Reefs. Here are some of them.

Animals:
Birds
Dugongs
Eel
Fishes
Sea Anemone
Sea Jellies
Sea Urchins
Sea Stars
Sea Snakes
Snail
Sharks
Sponges
Lobster
Octopus
Porcupine Fish
Plankton
Worms


Plants:
Cattail
Coconut
Hydrilla
Seaweed
Seagrass
Lotus

By saving the corals, we are also saving the animals and plants.

Interdependence:

• sponges provide shelter for fishes,shrimps,crabs, and other small animals
• sea anemone's tentacle provide refuge for fishes(eg. clown fishes) and their eggs. In return, the anemone fishes protect the anemone from predators such as butterfly fishes. Anemone fishes also remove parasites from their anemones.(parasite means an organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host)
  
• Bryozoans encrust the reefs and also straighten the reef structure


• reefs are homes to worms, including both flatworms and polychaetes.


• reefs are home to sea stars, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins . The crown-of-thorns sea star is a well- known predator of coral polyps. Large numbers of these sea stars can devastate reefs, leaving behind only the calcium carbonate skeletons. In dead reefs, larger food and game fish are almost totally absent.Deep-sea fish populations may be affected by this breakdown in the food chain.


• Some sea turtles frequent reef areas. Green, loggerhead, and hawksbill sea turtles live in the warm waters of the Great Barrier Reef.