How do Corals reproduce

1
How do Corals reproduce?
Corals can reproduce sexually and asexually
throughout their lifetime. Some corals have both
female and male reproductive cells, others are
either male or female. Both sexes can occur
either in a colony or a colony must consist of
individuals of the same sex. If reproducing
sexually, they can either do it by internal or
external fertilization.
2
Describe the physical characteristics of a coral
polyp.

• A polyp is one of two forms of individuals found
  in many species of cnidarians.
• Polyps are approximately cylindrical, elongated
  on the axis of the body.
• One end of the polyp is attached and the other is
  open exposing a mouth.
• They have tentacles that may number in hundreds.

3
How do corals reproduce?

• Coral reproduce by releasing sperm and eggs in
  the water to spread colonies around which is also
  called spawning.

4
Coral Polyps and Zooxanthellae

• Zooxanthellae play their most important role when
  living within coral polyps. Zooxanthellae produce
  sugars that are shared with its host.

5
Melanie
How might a boater or a diver affect a coral reef?
Most people take for granted the beatifully
developed coral reefs. When boats go over coral
reefs they stir up the water and the reefs wear
down. Sometimes the boats can even clip sides of
the coral reefs and pollute the water. Some
divers try to catch coral reef fish with cyanide.
The cyanide is a poison that stuns fish and
kills coral. Divers also use crowbars to rip up
reefs to get to the fish.
6
Scott
How are coral reefs made?
Coral reefs are built from calcium carbonate in
the mineralogical form of calcite. The coral
skeleton is built from aragonite needle crystals.

7
Coral Reefs

• Coral reefs are generally found in clear,
  tropical oceans. They are commonly found in
  Hawaii and the Caribbean.

8
Describe the symbolic relationship between coral
polyps and zooxanthellae (microscopic algae).

• Microscopic algae called zooxanthellae live
  within the internal tissue of each coral polyp.
  The zooxanthellae are the corals providing the
  reef building corals with enough energy to
  extract calcium from the seawater to build their
  skeletons rapidly. They use sunlight for
  photosynthesis and produce oxygen and sugars
  which the corals can use. The coral animal
  produces carbon dioxide and waste products that
  the zooxanthellae use. This symbiosis is so
  successful that fast-growing species of branching
  corals can grow up to 20 cm per year in shallow
  sunlit waters. The zooxanthellae are so numerous
  in the coral tissue that they give many corals
  their characteristic greenish-brown color.

9
How do people on land affect coral reefs?

• Coral reefs are among the most beautiful
  ecosystems in the world but are also among the
  most susceptible to human impacts and are damaged
  or destroyed with alarming ease. The use of
  dynamite or poison to capture fish and dropping
  boat anchors on corals have produced enormous
  damage. Even an accidental touch from divers and
  snorkelers can significantly damage the delicate
  coral polyps. Pollution, silting from land-based
  construction, and fertilizer runoff have led to
  damage to coral reefs worldwide by blocking the
  sunlight corals require for photosynthesis by
  their symbiotic algae. Rising sea temperatures
  from global warming can also destroy corals by
  ending the symbiotic relationship with
  zooxanthellae.

10
How can we protect the coral reef?

• By placing harsh laws on areas were its found, so
  boats and tourists cant harm the reef.
• Also stopping pollution around those areas were
  coral reef grow.

11
How does Coral Polyp grow?

• Once the polyp dies, then remains are left as a
  chalky white skeleton and is then left to be
  replaced by another coral. These coral colonies
  grow in many shapes, sizes and colors in shallow
  cold water.

12
What is blast, or dynamite, fishing?
Blast fishing is using dynamite or explosives to
stun or kill large schools of fish so they can be
collected easily. Since blast/dynamite fishing
releases such strong shockwaves to the ocean, it
is a major threat to the coral reef environment.
13
What is blast, or dynamite, fishing?

• Fishermen throw dynamite into the water in order
  to blow out the fish and collect them for food
  later.

14
How do people on land affect coral reefs?

• Divers go down to the reef and cut pieces off.
  Some people dump toxic chemicals into the water.

15
WHY DOES OVER FISHING AFFECT THE CORAL REEF
COMMUNITIES?

• Over fishing can kill total fish populations who
  clean the reef by eating the algae.

16
Blast/Dynamite fishing

• Blast fishing or dynamite fishing describes the
  practice of using dynamite or other explosives to
  stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection.
  
• Destroys the underlying habitat that supports the
  fish.
• The practice of Dynamite fishing is outlawed yet
  it is still practiced in economically desperate
  area.

17
How might a boater or a diver affect a coral reef?

• Portions of a coral reef can be broken by the
  impact of boat anchors and boat groundings.
• Divers and snorkelers can harm the reef by
  touching it or by removing the corals.
• Oil from snorkelers can kill the corals.

Lobster
18
Describe at least three human threats to coral
reefs.

• Pollution of coral watersheds
• Dragging hooks, nets and other fishing devices
  across the coral reef.
• Over fishing
• Trash Debris

Lion Fish
19
Why do so many animals live in and among coral
reefs?

• Coral reefs provide an abundant source of food
  and shelter to many organisms. The high amounts
  of algae and coral provide food to many animals
  and these animals are prey to others in the reef.
  Also, there is a plentiful amount of space where
  organisms can hide and protect themselves from
  predators.

Gray Reef Shark
20
Name at least 5 species that depend on Coral
Reefs, describing how each relies on the reefs
for survival.

• Clownfish Lives within and is protected by an
  anemone, which are poisonous animals that look
  like flowers and live on the reef. Clownfish are
  immune to the poison.
• Man of War A large jellyfish that eats small
  fish and other animals that live within the reef.
• Blowfish A carnivore that eats coral and other
  small organisms that live within the reefs.
• Humpback Whale Travels to the coral reef to mate
  and give birth.
• Moray Eels Camouflaged to hide within the rocks
  and coral, in order to sneak up on prey and hide
  from predators.

21
Why are coral reefs called the rain forests of
the sea?

• Coral reefs are called the rain forests of the
  sea because of the vast varieties of color, plant
  life, and animal life.

22
Where are coral reefs found?

• Coral reefs are found in the warm tropic photic
  zone where wave action is mild. Many coral reefs
  are found in the Bahamas, Virgin Islands,
  Australia and Hawaii.

23
Natural Threats to Coral Reefs

• Human expansion and development
• Outflows from water treatment plants
• Over fishing
• Commercial vessels
• Hurricanes
• Crown-of-thorns starfish

24
How can we protect coral reefs?

• Treat your water, excess nutrient can damage the
  reef.
• Only buy animals that have been collected in an
  ecologically safe manner.
• Recycle
• Conserve water
• Report dumping

25
Blast fishing

• A method of fishing which involves the use of
  dynamite or homemade explosives to quickly catch
  large numbers of fish.
• Used on coral reefs in Asia, Africa, the South
  Pacific, and the Caribbean, the effects are
  devastating to reef life.

26
Colony

• a group of coral polyps that takes the specific
  shapes of that species of coral

27
Algae

• Chiefly aquatic, eukaryotic one-celled or
  multicellular plants without true stems, roots
  and leaves, that are typically autotrophic,
  photosynthetic, and contain chlorophyll