EXPLORING

CORAL REEFS

Phoebe Marie “Maripi” R. Reyes

by:

Have you seen a coral reef?

It lies some distance from the

seashore just beneath the water.

If you know how to swim, you can take a closer look using goggles.

It looks like a garden under the sea.

What can you see in a coral reef?

…different kinds of colorful fishes

…invertebrates such as shrimps, starfish, sponges, shells

… and of course, CORALS!

What are corals? They are organisms with parts that look like flowers of different colors.

Are they plants?

http://gutsytuason.net/gallery.html

http://www.reefbase.org/DataPhotos/dat_photos_view.asp?PicID=1270

body wall

CORAL POLYP

connects the polyp to another polyp

mouth

They feed on zooplankton (tiny drifting animals), small fishes, and fine organic debris.1

Are they animals?

tentacles

The polyp uses its stinging tentacles to paralyze and feed on zooplankton and small fishes.2

Sensor

bulbous double-walled microscopic stinging capsules

coiled venom-filled thread with a minute

barb at its tip

barb

Sources:

1Sea World (1996). Diet and eating habits: Corals and coral reefs.

2Viles and Spencer in Russell, K. (2002). Human impacts on coral reefs.

Corals are animals which harbor photosynthetic algae. They grow only in the shallow, warm waters of the tropics where

sunlight and a warm temperature are available.

They build skeletons of calcium carbonate at the rate of 1-10 cm a year. The skeletons are the

nonliving part of the corals.

The living part is made up of the tiny coral polyps. They sit on cups at the surface of the reef or skeletons of calcium carbonate. The cups form a pattern that tells us the name of the coral.

tentacles

connects the polyp to another polyp

mouthbody wall

CORAL POLYP

The soft body ranges from 1-3mm in diameter.

The flower-like parts that we see are tentacles.

A coral polyp begins its life as a tiny larva (as small as the size of the head of a pin!).

One it settles on a hard support, it will not move again.

A coral reproduces by budding (identical polyps sprout out of the polyp’s side)…

… and by sexual reproduction (polyps release eggs and sperm, which unite in the water).

Source: EnchantedLearning.Com. (2004). Coral.

The nonliving skeleton is the habitat of a diversity of living organisms. The coral reef provides a home for many sea organisms such as:

fishes

mollusks

starfishes

shrimps

crabs

Filipinos eat close to 1 million metric tons per year of fish and other seafoods.

One square kilometer of healthy coral reefs can produce 15-30 metric tons of fish every year. At the current state of our reefs, we produce barely 5 to 7 metric tons per square kilometer every year.

How come we are producing less than expected?Source: Tan, J.M.L. (2001). Food for thought. Sunday Inquirer Magazine. Manila: Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Our reefs are being destroyed by human activities such as:

… dangerous fishing practices

Dynamite fishing

Cyanide poisoning

Muro-ami

… deforestation

of upland forests

of mangrove areas

… heavy fertilizer use

What will happen if these activities continue?

What can we do to help save our

coral reefs?

How about a newsletter?

Let us make a website!

Print stickers and donate proceeds to NGOs that help save coral reefs.