tropical reefs
Colorful marine habitats
Tropical reefs are underwater ecosystems built primarily by coral in warm, shallow ocean waters near the equator.
These structures support extraordinary biodiversity—fish, invertebrates, algae—and are often called rainforests of the sea.
Tropical reefs attract divers from around the world.
Climate change and ocean acidification threaten many tropical reefs with bleaching and decline.
- coralMarine skeletal formation
- coral gardenUnderwater colony ecosystem
- parrotfishBeak-jawed coral-eating fish
- marineRelating to the sea
- marine lifeOcean-dwelling organisms collectively
fish species · coral bleaching · ocean acidification · atoll · Maldives · polyps · symbiosis · butterflyfish · clown fish · sea turtle · Caribbean Sea · seagrass · sponges · Red Sea · warm waters · biodiversity · sea urchins · calcification
- reefsreefs, barrier reefs, atolls, shallow reefs, rocky reefs
- coral reefscorals, soft corals, polyp, soft coral, polyps
- spongessponge, sponges, sea sponge, marine sponges, natural sponge