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Cards In This Set
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Coral reefs are what type of organisms?
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Colonial organisms
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Colonial organisms are made of....
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Hundred and thousands of individual animals called polyps
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Corals belong to what phylum?
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Cnidaria
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Each coral polpy has a stomach that opens at one end, called a
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mouth (surrounded by circle of tentacles)
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1. tiny plant cells that live in most types of coral polyps.
2. provide the coral with food from photosynthesis |
Zooxanthellae
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Stony corals grow when...
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Individual polyps life themselves from the base and create new base on top of old one and secrete skeletons of stony coral from bottom of polyp
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When free-swimming coral larvae attach to submerged rocks along the edges of islands or continents
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How coral forms
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Fringing or apron reefs directly border....
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Shorelines
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Reef building corals are restricted in their geographic distribution by their...
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Physiology
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Best water temperature for coral to grow
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23-29 C, but can tolerate as high as 40C for short time
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Most coral require what kind of water?
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Very salty (saline) and very clear water
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Coral requires what kind of light?
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High light / intense sunlight
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Most coral building is in which water zone?
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Euphotic zone (light penetrates to 70m deep)
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Coral reproduces by releasing millions of eggs and sperm
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At the same time in synchronized events
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Why are coral reefs important?
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1. home to fish and invertebrate species found nowhere else
2. key to finding new medicines in 21st century 3. provide goods and services worth $37.5 billion/yr |
