A stony coral colony begins as a single free-swimming founder coral polyp that attaches itself to a hard substrate such as submerged rocks. The founder polyp replicates itself repeatedly through asexual reproduction, producing a colony. The colony consists of a base which is attached to the reef substrate, a growing edge zone (where new coral polyps are produced), and an upper surface that is exposed to light that filters down through the water.
Atoll reefs form lagoons.
The plural of 'reef' is reefs.
Atoll reefs usually only form where stony coral growth is quite rapid. They are far more common in pacific reefs than atlantic. However, an atoll is simply a coral reef that encloses a lagoon, and technically they could form anywhere where reefs form.
Some diseases carried by humans can infect coral reefs and scientists have just recently discovered that a form of the herpes virus is killing coral reefs.
red
Coral reefs begin to form when free-swimming coral larvae attach to submerged rocks. Both natural conditions and those created by man is what make coral reefs vulnerable to environmental stress.
it contain calcium and if spoiled it causes tsunami.
fringing veins
they have a branch and twist it to form a circle wich is a reef
Continental shelf
continental shelf
Corals secrete calcite around their bodies to form reefs. These reefs consist of a compact colony of individual polyps.