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Ocean Portal by The Smithsonian Institution

Coral Reefs

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BLOG POST Making Science Sing: The Longest Time (Coral Triangle Edition) How do you make science sing? Just ask a couple of female scientists to sing about their research interests and their passion is quickly conveyed in a quirky little tune. Informative, inspir...MORE STORIES


	IMAGE GALLERY MORE GALLERIES Two Views of Coral Reefs: Thriving and Threatened Coral reefs are beautiful, vibrant ecosystems that house roughly one quarter of...
	BLOG POST MORE STORIES Hotspot of Biodiversity We have arrived as the advanced scouting party to the scene of this year's field...
	IMAGE GALLERY MORE GALLERIES Will Coral Reefs Survive Acidification? Nestled among the beautiful coral reefs of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a place tha...

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					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...

From Sea Sponge to HIV Medicine

Mar 26, 2013 - 9:40AM

Tectitethya crypta (formerly known as Cryptotheca crypta) is a large,...

Coral Spawning

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...

Martha Nizinski: Hooked on Deep-Sea Corals Jul 27 2011 - 11:49am Nine years ago I was invited by a colleague to join a research team investigating deep-sea coral habitats. I was asked to examine the invertebrates associated with these ecosystems. After my first look, I was hooked! I was fascinated by the sheer beauty and complexity of these deep-sea environments...	Coral at the Great Barrier Reef Oct 2 2012 - 3:04pm This colorful coral lives in Australia's Great Barrier Reef. On the whole, this coral reef is the largest single structure built by living organisms and can be seen from space! Although more than one-third of the reef is protected from fishing and other human impacts, it is still 50% smaller than...
Lionfish on the Loose Feb 19 2013 - 10:24am The majestic and highly predatory red lionfish (Pterois volitans), native to the Indo-Pacific, is invading Atlantic waters. The lionfish is a popular home aquarium species, and some were most likely dumped off the Florida coast when no longer wanted. The result is a lionfish population explosion...	Coral Colony Jan 26 2010 - 11:46am Flower-like clusters of polyps make up this coral colony. Their pink color comes from the zooxanthellae living inside. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in our Coral Reefs featured story.
Aleutian Coral Reef Jun 6 2011 - 10:21am Several species of deep-sea corals form a garden 165 m (540 ft) below the ocean’s surface off the coast of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. Explore more in the multimedia feature "Coral Gardens of the Deep Sea."	The Island of Moorea 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.
Bleached Corals, Pacific Ocean Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am Compare the healthy coral on the left with the bleached coral on the right. Increased water temperatures caused the bleached coral to lose the microscopic algae that give the coral color and provide it with food. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in the Coral Reefs section.	Unhealthy Coral Reef, Kiritimi, Line Islands 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.
Diseased Coral Apr 14 2011 - 11:19pm A photo taken at a reef near Bocas del Toro, Panama. The reef suffered a mass bleaching event in the summer of 2010, when water temperatures were unusually high. In this photo, healthy brown coral gives way to the frontlines of disease.	Dead Man’s Fingers Nov 2 2012 - 11:06am Dead man’s fingers (Alcyonium digitatum) are soft corals named for their appendage-like appearance when thrown ashore by storms. The finger-like clumps of coral polyps come in various shades of pink, orange, white, grey, or yellow and are found along the northern Atlantic coasts of Europe and North...
Global Distribution of Shallow Coral Reef Ecosystems Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am Shallow water coral reefs straddle the equator worldwide. The shallow coral reefs found in U.S. territorial waters are highlighted in purple in this map. More about coral reef ecosystems can be found in our Coral Reefs featured story.	Monoculture of Boulder Corals Aug 2 2012 - 3:08pm Close to the volcanic CO2 seeps the vast diversity of corals that exists in less-acidic waters is replaced by a "monoculture" of boulder corals that are less fragile and better suited to life in acidic water.
Studying Deep-Sea Corals Jun 9 2011 - 9:23am What happens to deep-sea coral samples after they are collected? In this image gallery, see some of the ways ocean scientists sort, measure, photograph, and study them. Learn more in the multimedia feature "Coral Gardens of the Deep Sea."	Coral Scientist J. Murray Roberts: Exploring the Blue Planet Jul 27 2011 - 9:54am Imagine you’re an alien seeing Planet Earth for the first time. What do you see from your spacecraft? A blue planet with over 70% of its surface covered by ocean. From space it’s obvious how important the ocean is to our planet. But we actually know very little about what lives at the bottom of the...
Cauliflower Coral - Pocillopora Jan 26 2010 - 11:45am This piece of pocillopora, or cauliflower coral, would normally have a rigid outer skeleton, but researchers dissolved it to expose the coral’s tissue and take a sample for DNA analysis. Read more about the Moorea Biocode Project which is using DNA analysis to track the marine biodiveristy of the...	Crown of Thorns Starfish Oct 3 2010 - 7:25pm A crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) on a reef in the Marianas Islands. An “outbreak” of these coral-eating starfish can decimate a reef.