Coral Reefs

LATEST TODAY'S CATCH

A School of Hawaiian Squirrelfish

Apr 10, 2013 - 9:03AMCheck out the eyes on these Hawaiian squirrelfish (Sargocentron xantherythrum)! Because squirrelfish are almost entirely nocturnal, they need big eyes to absorb as much moonlight and starlight as they can in the dark. During the...
Mar 26, 2013 - 9:40AM
Tectitethya crypta (formerly known as Cryptotheca crypta) is a large,...
Mar 15, 2013 - 9:07AM
Corals are sedentery animals, so how do they reproduce? One way is sexually...

SPOTLIGHT

Corals and Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are the most diverse of all marine ecosystems. They teem with life, with perhaps one quarter of all ocean...
Tridacna maxima
Nov 9 2010 - 12:54pm
Marine World Heritage is a prestigious list of 43 marine ecosystems and biodiversity treasures from across the globe, including  countries such as Australia, Iceland, Russia, South Africa, the Phillippines, United States, and Yemen. Together, they can be considered the “Crown Jewels of our...
Aug 24 2012 - 3:37pm
An aerial photo of Carrie Bow Cay and the Smithsonian research station looking north with Twin Cays in the background. The Smithsonian’s Carrie Bow Cay Marine Field Station supports research projects of marine scientists year-round. It offers ready access to thousands of small mangrove islands...
Jul 27 2011 - 10:46am
Dr. Amy Baco-Taylor observed corals like these on her first submarine dive to a deep-sea coral bed off the coast of Hawaii. They include primnoids, zoanthids, and Gerardia.
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
On Moorea, an island in French Polynesia, researchers are striving to complete a biocode—a DNA catalog of every life form big enough to pick up with tweezers.
Aleutian Islands Deep-Sea Corals
Aug 12 2011 - 2:04pm
In this brief video clip from NOAA, catch a glimpse of the startling beauty and diversity of life found among deep-sea corals near the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Explore more in the multimedia feature "Coral Gardens of the Deep Sea."  
Dec 15 2009 - 12:25pm
Coral reefs are beautiful, vibrant ecosystems that house roughly one quarter of all marine species and provide billions of dollars in products and services to humans each year. But they are also vulnerable to human activities – both direct disturbances and small, indirect effects that build up over...
a coral reef seen from underwater
May 11 2010 - 3:27pm
Coral reefs are bustling cities of marine life, until rising ocean temperatures turn them into ghost towns. Can reefs spring back from devastating bleaching events? In this episode of the Podcast of Life, Ari Daniel Shapiro and researcher Dr. Randi Rotjan of the New England Aquarium, journey to the...
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
Tropical coral reefs—found in warm, clear, shallow waters—support a rich diversity of marine life, such as these sea bass in the Red Sea. Learn more in the Ocean Portal's Coral Reefs section.
Feb 13 2013 - 10:55am
In November 2012, Australia began protecting a huge swath of its ocean from overfishing and oil exploration, creating the largest network of marine reserves in the world at a grand total of 1.2 million square miles (3.1 million square kilometers). The area, a third of the continent’s territorial...
Mar 8 2013 - 10:57am
These beautiful mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus) are covered in bright blue, red, yellow and orange waves. What they lack, however, are traditional fish scales. They live in western Pacific tropical coral reef ecosystems and instead of your typical fish scales they are covered in a smelly,...
Nov 8 2010 - 2:15pm
The Tubbataha Reefs National Park site in the Philippines was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993. The site is an example of a pristine coral reef with a spectacular 100 m (330 ft) perpendicular wall, extensive lagoons, and two coral islands – all of which supports a diverse marine...
Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am
This photo of Kingman’s Reef in the Line Islands shows what a healthy coral reef should look like. The water is crystal clear. A variety of richly colored corals carpet the seabed. And a native predator, a red snapper, prowls for prey.
Aug 10 2012 - 3:27pm
This purple urchin Paleopneustes cristatus is seldom seen by itself, and can be found in groups of hundreds. Dr. Dave Pawson, a senior scientist at NMNH who studies deep-sea echinoderms, is testing if the fertilized eggs of this urchin sink or are buoyant, an important question in...
Dec 7 2009 - 1:48pm
Algae has overtaken this coral reef off heavily populated Kiritimati, or Christmas Island. Few fish swim in the murky waters. The causes include pollution, overfishing, and increased water temperature. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in our Coral Reefs featured story.
Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am
The long silver tool shown here is a piece of traditional Australian fishing gear called a “yabbie pump.” Researchers use the device to collect burrowing shrimp and other fast-moving animals from the shallow waters near the island of Moorea. Learn more in our Scientists Catalog Life on the...
Jul 27 2011 - 9:27am
Deep-sea corals scientist Dr. J. Murray Roberts photographed these living polyps from the Mingulay Reef Complex off Scotland in aquaria in 2010.