HABITAT WEEK- DAY #4

HABITAT WEEK DAY #4

It’s Day 4 of our Habitat Week and we’re grabbing our snorkel gear and going for a dip to find the most diverse habitat in the ocean. We’re going to visit a coral reef. Grab your wetsuit and let’s head out to check out this amazing habitat!

Coral Reef Fun Facts:

•         Coral reefs are made up of colonies of tiny animals called coral.
•         Corals are soft bodied polyps that are related to jellies. They have a limestone skeleton.
•         There are two kinds of coral- soft and hard.
•         There are three kinds of coral reefs- atolls, barrier reefs and fringing reefs.
•         The largest coral reefs are in the Indo-Pacific oceans.
•         Coral reefs are located in tropical waters. The coral need water that is above 64 degrees.
•         Corals also need light to survive. They share their skeletons with algae called zooxanthellea.
•         Coral reefs contain one third of the world’s fish species.
•        Reefs are like rainforest, because of their diversity.

Animals of the Coral Reef:

•         Sea Stars
•         Sea Turtles
•         Sea Snakes
•         Sponges
•         Anemones
•         Yellow Tangs
•         Sea Horses
•         Stingrays
•         Coral
•         Parrot Fish
•         Clownfish

We could spend hours and hours swimming in the reef. There is so much to see! The fish alone are often too many to count. Coral reefs are full of symbiotic relationships (where two organisms depend on each other).  These relationships help the animals survive in these beautiful and amazing habitats.