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SpeciesScientists Discover Mysterious New Fish in the Red Sea – and Have Never Seen It Again OceanEye to eye with Britain's hidden sharks at SharkAdemy - Oceanographic RiversIn October, biologists surveying a New York harbor for invasive fish pulled up a bright yellow one. It wasn't an invasive species at all OceanShedd Aquarium Sends Shark Eggs to Bolster Wild Populations SpeciesA rare fish has been found in Lake Ontario, North America, whose entire body is golden. It is a nati..OceanThe Great Sea Reef Is Fiji’s Wildest Dive, and a New Frontier for Conservation OceanEckerd College professor contributes to designating Biscayne Bay an Important Shark and Ray Area SpeciesRio Verde Grande Survey Identifies Fifty-Three Fish Species Facing Flow Reductions FisheriesAdams River Salmon Run in Thompson-Nicola IndiaHilsa production dropped 26% in five years, fisheries minister tells parliament SpeciesScientists Discover Mysterious New Fish in the Red Sea – and Have Never Seen It Again OceanEye to eye with Britain's hidden sharks at SharkAdemy - Oceanographic RiversIn October, biologists surveying a New York harbor for invasive fish pulled up a bright yellow one. It wasn't an invasive species at all OceanShedd Aquarium Sends Shark Eggs to Bolster Wild Populations SpeciesA rare fish has been found in Lake Ontario, North America, whose entire body is golden. It is a nati..OceanThe Great Sea Reef Is Fiji’s Wildest Dive, and a New Frontier for Conservation OceanEckerd College professor contributes to designating Biscayne Bay an Important Shark and Ray Area SpeciesRio Verde Grande Survey Identifies Fifty-Three Fish Species Facing Flow Reductions FisheriesAdams River Salmon Run in Thompson-Nicola IndiaHilsa production dropped 26% in five years, fisheries minister tells parliament

EveryFish

Coral reef

A ridge built by colonies of tiny coral animals in warm, clear, shallow seas, home to about a quarter of marine fish species.

A diagram drawn by EveryFish.

Also: reef

Reef-building corals are small animals that live together in colonies and lay down limestone skeletons, with algae living in their tissues that feed them by photosynthesis. Over thousands of years they build reefs. Reefs cover well under one per cent of the sea floor but hold roughly a quarter of all marine fish species, from clownfish and butterflyfish to groupers and reef sharks. The Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Triangle of South-East Asia are the largest and richest. India has reefs in the Gulf of Mannar, the Gulf of Kutch, Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

See also

Coral bleaching Plant-eating fish Cleaner fish

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