Coral Reef Animals and the Diversity of Life Found on a Coral Reef

Coral reefs are a home to a large variety of colorful, usual and unusual creatures just like the extensive diversity of life that you would find in a typical rainforest. Ranging from turtles to fish, eels, sharks, shrimps, snakes, sponges, algae and urchins, the list of exactly what lives in coral reef is limitless. Worms, crabs, barnacles, sea cucumbers and sea slugs have over the past millions of years evolved distinct ways which they use for finding food and survival. Coral reefs are known to have some of the world’s highest biodiversity.

A single coral reef hosts thousands of different specials of animals and plants including many different types of corals as well. The number of organisms that you can expect to find in the coral reefs is just amazing and unbelievable. Coral reefs attract such a vast number of organisms since they are able to get food and shelter here. In their efforts of escaping from the predators, many are able to hide within the crevices and cracks of the reef that corals create. Ideally speaking, nearly each and every living thing that is found on the reef is a source of food for another animal or organism that probably lives in the coral too.

Together, the large diversity of animals and plants found in the coral reefs end up creating an incredibly complex food web and scientists are still discovering more and more new species on a daily basis. What this means in short is that no one really has an idea of the exact number of creatures that call coral reefs home. The biodiversity contained in coral reefs is quite staggering and coral reefs are recognized to be one of the planet’s most diverse ecosystems.

Ranging from large predatory sea animals to small herbivorous animals, a coral life is home to a great diversity of life as it provides the protection and food needed by these organisms. Coral reefs host a diverse array of marine mammals, crustaceans and reptiles. Everything including sea turtles, octopus, dolphins and lobsters all depending on coral reef as their source of food and each animal and plant in the coral plays a crucial role in supporting the reef ecosystem. Considering the grave danger that coral reefs all over the world are faced with, savingcorals.com is a company that supports a myriad of programs that ensures that coral reefs are protected and saved from the threats they are exposed to.