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Characteristics of Coral Reefs. Coral reefs are shallow-ocean habitats that are filled with sea life. The massive structure that the coral reef is comprised of is actually built out of coral polyps, which are small marine animals that thrive in colonies.

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There are barrier reefs, fringing reefs and atolls. The last is often called an island when it is really a reef. Fact 19: A coral reef needs sunlight to grow, that is why they hardly ever grow in waters deeper than 45 feet. They also are more likely to be found in tropical oceans, as the water is clearer and warmer.

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Coral reefs begin to form when free-swimming coral larvae attach to submerged rocks or other hard surfaces along the edges of islands or continents. As the corals grow and expand, reefs take on one of three major characteristic structures —fringing, barrier or atoll.

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1 Minute Video of The Great Barrier Reef

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My 1 Minute Video of the Great Barrier Reef. All Filmed whilst on trips with Pro Dive Cairns on a Go Pro Hero2.

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A coral reef is a wave-resistant limestone structure produced by living organisms, found principally in shallow, tropical marine waters. Limestone is a type of rock composed primarily of the mineral calcite, which is a crystalline form of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ). Thousands of species inhabit coral reefs, but only a fraction produce the calcium carbonate that crystallizes into the limestone that forms the reef.

Coral reefs are one of the oldest ecosystems on the planet. They provide a habitat for more than 4,000 marine animals and are often referred to as the "rainforests of the oceans." PHOTOGRAPH REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OFAP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS.

Coral polyps are the most important reef-building organism. The species that secrete calcium carbonate are known as hard coral polyps or, simply, stony corals. In the western Pacific Ocean, more than three hundred species of stony corals exist. Coral polyps are invertebrates (pronounced in-VER-tuh-brets), or animals without backbones. They are related to anemones and jellyfish. In fact, a coral polyp looks similar to an anemone: it is a jellylike sac attached at one end to its skeleton. The open end, the mouth, is fringed with six stinging tentacles (or a multiple of six), which the polyp extends at night to feed. The size of coral polyps varies greatly, depending on the species. They may be as small as 0.04 inch (0.1 centimeter) in diameter or as large as 8 inches (20 centimeters) in diameter.

Worldwide, coral reefs cover an estimated 110,000 square miles (284,900 square kilometers). Many stony corals grow best in clear, salty water with a temperature between 70°F and 85°F (21°C and 29°C). Because of this, most reefs are found in the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn, two parallel lines of latitude lying one-quarter of the way from the equator to the North and South Poles, respectively. Reefs are also found around Florida and southern Japan because warm-water currents flow into these areas from the Tropics.

The shape of a coral reef depends on the species of coral building it. Different types of coral produce different shapes. Some are pointed and hard; others are round and soft. They may be robust or delicate. Various shapes in reefs include fingerlike branches, flat branches, knobs or wedges, boulders or balls, mushroom caps, and tablelike structures.

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and google