Latest Coral reefs Stories
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A new study, led by the University of Georgia, solves the mystery of the dying Caribbean coral. Plunk down a wastewater treatment plant anywhere along a Caribbean coast and watch the coral reefs nearby start dying, by a means unknown to science. "You'd have all the makings of a great mystery novel," says ecologist James Porter of the University of Georgia. Unlike a novel, however, this story is true. "Between 1996 and 2012,...
[ Watch the Video: Picky Eater Fish Endanger Coral Reefs ] Peter Suciu for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Few pet owners would expect their dog or cat to clean up the house, and anyone who has ever camped in places such as Yellowstone Park knows that bears can visit and will leave a campsite in worse shape than they found it. Fish on the other hand could actually be doing some good in cleaning up coral reefs. A recent study conducted in the Fiji Islands found that four species...
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online When Darwin first formed his theory of evolution, he noted how physical isolation due to geographic barriers could result in the development of specialized adaptations. These novel adaptations were then selected and passed on to future generations. Eventually a new species would evolve. While many researchers are focused on how physical barriers and isolation can lead to new species on land, a pair of LSU biologists are more...
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (UK) Coral reefs are predicted to decline under the pressure of global warming. However, a number of coral species can survive at seawater temperatures even higher than predicted for the tropics during the next century. How they survive, while most species cannot, is being investigated by researchers at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) and New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). We tend to associate coral reefs with tropical...
LANDOVER, Md., Jan. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On January 13(th), Megan Berkle, a high school biology teacher from Huntington Park, California, will join the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation to survey coral reefs of the Gambier Islands, French Polynesia. The research is part of the Foundation's Global Reef Expedition, a six-year journey to map and evaluate coral reef habitats around the world. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130111/DC41394) Megan is...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Scientists have discovered corals at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef at depths that were previously believed to be uninhabitable. A team of researchers with the University of Queensland's Seaview Survey has been working on a multi-year project to map out the Great Barrier Reef, and they recently announced that they have found corals in waters nearly as dark as night. The newly discovered corals sit at 410 feet below the surface at...
China’s coral reefs have suffered a devastating 80 per cent decline in recent decades, driven mainly by the country’s unrestrained economic development, according to a new international scientific study. The first comprehensive survey of the state of corals along mainland China and in the South China Sea reports a grim picture of decline, degradation and destruction resulting from coastal development, pollution and overfishing. A new study by Professor Terry Hughes and Matthew Young...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online New research from the University at Buffalo reveals that coral colonies in the Bahamas that have suffered tissue damage were still producing low numbers of eggs four years after the initial injuries. The study, recently published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, showed that tiny sperm-producing factories called spermaries were in short supply as well. UB geology professor Howard Lasker, PhD led the study on...
LANDOVER, Md., Dec. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- From Nov 13(th) to December 11(th) 2012 a team of scientists from the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, joined by visiting researchers, conducted hundreds of underwater survey dives on reefs in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. This study follows research the team did earlier in the Society Islands and has produced some noticeable differences between the two island groups. "We basically repeat the same...
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online As the clamoring for a more comprehensive strategy to battle climate change continues, scientists are producing more and more research that suggests incremental changes in global temperature can have a massive effect on ecosystems. A new study from a team of Australian and German researchers showed that when sea surface temperatures increased by about 0.7 degrees Celsius during the last interglacial warm period, the Earth’s...
Latest Coral reefs Reference Libraries
Coral reefs are submerged structures consisting of calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of small animals found in marine waters that enclose few nutrients. The majority of coral reefs are constructed from stony corals, which then consist of polyps that come together in groups. The polyps are like small sea anemones, to which they are very closely related. Unlike the sea anemones, coral polyps secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons which provide support and protections...
Knotted Fan Coral, (Melithaea ochracea), is a species of colonial soft coral that is found in tree-like fans on shallow reefs in the South China Sea between Taiwan and Indonesia, including Singapore and Malaysia. In Taiwan, it is the most widespread coral in its family Gorgonacea. It is found on the higher parts of reef fronts where its numerous small polyps can feed at water flow rates varying from 1.6 to 16 inches per second. This species usually grow to about 8 inches in length, with...
Leaf Plate Montipora, (Montipora capricornis), also known as Vase Coral, Cap Coral, or simply Montipora, is a species of stony coral found in the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is also found in reefs in the Red Sea. It usually inhabits the top half of the reef where photosynthesis can occur. It branches out from the foundation into an area with adequate sunlight. This species forms flat, plating colonies. The colonies expand by adding to their foundations and further spreading out....
Nephtheidae is a family of soft corals known as carnation corals, tree corals or colt soft corals. These corals are very striking and show a wide range of rich colors including red, pink, yellow and purple. These corals are mainly tree-like in that they branch out and have little knobs on the end of their rubbery branches. Another name given these animals are broccoli corals, due to the fact that their polyps retract in the daytime, giving them the resemblance of the vegetable. The polyps...
Fungia scutaria is a species of mushroom coral in the family Fungiidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific oceanic region. It occurs on upper reef slopes especially where there is considerable water movement. It is typically found on sand beds or coral fragments. It lives as a single individual rather than as a colony and is detached from the seabed. It has an elongated shape and can grow quite large. The polyp can be up to 6.7 inches long and is embedded in a cup-shaped hollow known as a...
