hydraulika-i-pneumatyka: Coral reef fish

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

Coral reef fish are marine fish which live amongst or in close relation to coral reefs. Coral reefs form complex ecosystems with a high amount of biodiversity. Among the multitude of inhabitants, the fish stand out as colourful and interesting to watch. Hundreds of species can exist in a small area of a healthy reef, many of them hidden or well camouflaged. Reef fish have developed many specialisations adapted to survival on the reefs. Coral reefs occupy less than 1% of the surface area of the world oceans, but provide a home for 25% of all marine fish species. Reef habitats are a sharp contrast to the open water habitats that make up the other 99% of the world oceans. However, loss and deg…

Evidence: 34 • authority: 92

Predator-mediated trophic connectivity between reef and oceanic habitats in Palau.. Effective fisheries management and marine spatial planning depend on understanding how mobile predators link reef and oceanic ecosystems through cross-habitat movements and foraging. Predator resource use shapes movement and space-use strategies, providing insight into life history and behavioral variation, the identification of critical habitats, and spatial patterns of vulnerability to fishing and other human activities. Yet cross-habitat trophic connectivity remains poorly quantified in diverse coral reef and oceanic systems. Here, we used stable isotope (δ 13 C, δ 15 N) analysis, complemented by stomach…

Evidence: 25 • authority: 72

A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition of sand or wave erosion planing down rock outcrops. However, reefs such as the coral reefs of tropical waters are formed by biotic (living) processes, dominated by corals and coralline algae. Artificial reefs, such as shipwrecks and other man-made underwater structures, may occur intentionally or as the result of an accident. These are sometimes designed to increase the physical complexity of featureless sand bottoms to attract a more diverse range of organisms. They provide sh…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 mi2). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. It is separated from the coast by a channel 160 kilometres (100 mi) wide in places and over 61 metres (200 ft) deep. The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It supports a wide diversity of life and wa…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Coral bleaching is the process where corals become white due to loss of symbiotic algae and photosynthetic pigments. This loss of pigment can be caused by various stressors, such as changes in water temperature, light, salinity, or nutrients. A bleached coral is under stress, more vulnerable to starvation and disease, and at risk of death. The leading cause of coral bleaching is rising ocean temperatures due to climate change. Take up of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere also has been acidifying the oceans and affects coral health. Large-scale bleaching events can devastate entire reef ecosystems, affecting biodiversity and the livelihoods of coastal communities that depend on healthy reef…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Coral belongs to the class Anthozoa in the animal phylum Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons that support and protect the coral. Most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny, and agitated water. Coral reefs first appeared 485 million years ago, at the dawn of the Early Ordovician, displacing the microbial and sponge reefs of the Cambrian. Sometimes called rainforests of…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

The Coral Triangle (CT) is an area in the tropical waters around Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. This area contains at least 500 species of reef-building corals in each ecoregion. The Coral Triangle is located between the Pacific and Indian oceans and encompasses portions of two biogeographic regions: the Indonesian-Philippines Region, and the Far Southwestern Pacific Region. As one of eight major coral reef zones in the world, the Coral Triangle is recognized as a global epicentrum of marine biodiversity and a global priority for conservation. Its biological resources make it a global hotspot of marine biodiversity. Known as the "Am…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

A marine habitat is a habitat that supports marine life. Marine life depends in some way on the saltwater that is in the sea (the term marine comes from the Latin mare, meaning sea or ocean). A habitat is an ecological or environmental area inhabited by one or more living species. The marine environment supports many kinds of these habitats. Marine habitats can be divided into coastal and open ocean habitats. Coastal habitats are found in the area that extends from as far as the tide comes in on the shoreline out to the edge of the continental shelf. Most marine life is found in coastal habitats, even though the shelf area occupies only seven percent of the total ocean area. Open ocean habi…