Plants and Animals Associates with Coral Reef

Presented byJitendra KumarPh.D. DFK 1303

Dept. of Fisheries Resources and ManagementCollege of Fisheries, Mangalore

jitendrafishco@gmail.com

Presented toDr. S.R. Somashekara Associate Professor

Dept. of Fisheries Resources and Management

Associated Plants and AnimalsBoth living corals and their skeletons provide wonderful microhabitat for many other organisms.

Coral reefs contain the most diverse fish assemblages to be found anywhere on earth,

as 6,000-8,000 species that can be found dwelling within coral reef ecosystems of the world's oceans

Diversity of Coral reefs

• Reefs are home to a large variety of organisms, including • Fish, • Seabirds, • Sponges, • Cnidarians (which includes some types of corals and jellyfish), • Worms, • Crustaceans (including shrimp, cleaner shrimp, spiny lobsters and crabs), • Mollusks (including cephalopods),  • Echinoderms (including starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers), • Sea turtles and • Sea snakes. • Plants etc..

• Coral reefs are essential spawning, nursery, breeding, and feeding grounds for numerous organisms.

• Coral reefs support more than 800 hard coral species and more than 4,000 species of fish. 

• Over 25 percent of the world's fish biodiversity, and between nine and 12 percent of the world's total fisheries, are associated with coral reefs

• By one estimate, biodiversity value accounts for $5.5 billion of the total estimated annual global net benefit of coral reefs.

Two major groups of animals inhabit coral reefs:

• Animals with backbones (called vertebrates) and those

• Without these structures (called invertebrates).

Vertebrate Coral Reef AnimalsAmong vertebrate animals, only a relative few groups contain species

that are regularly found within coral reef communities.

These are:

• Fishes• Sea Snakes• Sea Turtles• Dugongs etc..

Fishes

Coral reef fish are fish which live amongst or in close relation to coral reefs.

Habitat: They are home to 33% of all known fish species.

Nursery: And a nursery ground for over 25% of all marine species.

Protection: they protect 20% of the world’s coast from wave erosion.

Reef fish adaptations

Colouration

Most reef fishes have body shapes that are different from open water fishes.

Open water fish are usually built for speed in the open sea, streamlined like torpedoes to minimise friction as they move through the water.

Coral reef fishes exhibit a huge variety of dazzling and sometimes bizarre colours and patterns.

This is in marked contrasts to open water fishes which are usually counter shaded with silvery colours.

Body Shapes

Feeding strategiesMany reef fish species have evolved different feeding strategies-

-specialized mouths, jaws and teeth particularly suited to deal with their primary food sources found in coral reef ecosystems.

Some species even shift their dietary habits and distributions as they mature.

Generalized carnivoresSpecialised carnivores

Herbivores

Herbivores feed on plants.

The largest groups of coral reef fishes that feed on plants are the parrotfishes, rabbitfishes, and surgeonfishes.

All feed primarily on microscopic and macroscopic algae growing on or near coral reefs.

SymbiosisSymbiosis refers to two species that have a close relationship with each other.

The relationship can be mutualistic, when both species benefit from the relationship, commensalistic, when one species benefits and the other is unaffected, and parasitistic, when one species benefits, and the other is harmed.

Sea Snakes

• There are between 55-65 recognized species of sea snakes, but of these only a relative few are commonly found in coral reef areas.

• Sea snakes are found only in the Indo-Pacific region

Sea Turtles

• Of the seven recognized species of sea turtles, three are regular or occasional visitors to coral reefs in some parts of the world.

• The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) also frequents coral reef ecosystems of both the Greater Caribbean and Indo-Pacific regions.

• This species feeds primarily on the seagrasses found in protected back reef lagoons.

Dugongs

• These peaceful giants - related to elephants - consume prodigious quantities of seagrasses, and • most prolific herbivores in coral reef lagoons

• prior to recent levels of human interference with these ecosystems.

• It is feared that they may soon become extinct.

Invertebrate Coral Reef Animals

• Sponges• Echinoderms• Mollusks• Crustaceans• Polychaetes

Sponges

• Sponges are primitive animals that filter feed on tiny food particles carried in the water sweeping over them.

Echinoderms

• The name "Echinoderm" literally means "spiny-skinned", a trait that shared by all members of the group.

Sea stars

• "starfish", are often found in sand and seagrass habitat around coral reefs as well as upon the hard reef substrate.

Sea Urchins

• Sea Urchins (Class Echinoidea) are active grazing herbivores and are among the most common of all coral reef echinoderms.

Mollusks

• Coral reef mollusks are mainly benthic (bottom dwelling) invertebrates, but there are a few open water swimmers included as well.

• Gastropods (snails)• Bivalves (clams, mussels, scallops)• Cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish, octopus)

Crustaceans

• Coral reef crustaceans include the large, more familiar animals such as shrimps, lobsters, and crabs, as well as many smaller or cryptic types like amphipods, stomatopods, and copepods.

Coral fish diversity in Netrani waters

• Balistidae family dominated in all the four sites (22 %) followed by Pomacentridae (12.5 %), • Caesionidae (9.7 %), • Labridae (7.8 %),

A total of 69 species belonging to 39 genera, 19 families and 3 orders

Coral Reef Plants

• The term "coral reef plants" is generally used to refer to all photosynthetic life forms (other than bacteria) commonly found within coral reef ecosystems.

• Imp. Plants-• Mangroves and • Seagrasses

that are often closely associated with coral reefs.

• Both groups are capable of rapid growth and high production rates, and thus of making a substantial contribution to the food webs of coral reef systems.

• By trapping suspended sediments and slowing water movement these plants also benefit nearby coral reefs by reducing sediment loads in the water.

Seagrasses

• Seagrasses are most often found in shallow, sheltered marine or estuarine waters.

• They are the only type of angiosperm (flowering plant) to successfully colonize the sea.

Mangroves

• Mangroves are a unique group of large shrub-like plants that grow in thick, physically complex "forests" that line many tropical and sub-tropical shores.

Coral Reef "Algae"• A variety of algae is always present in coral reef ecosystems; in fact, a

few types are essential to the survival of corals and the formation of coral reefs. • These diverse life forms were once classified as "plants", but that is no

longer the case.

Seaweeds: Macroscopic Reef Algae

• Large, multicellular forms of marine algae are commonly called "seaweeds".

• These algal forms are widely distributed within coral reef ecosystems, where they occur as one of three main types based on color: • green, • red, and • brown.

• Green algae (Chlorophyta) are most common in shallow reef areas.

• These seaweeds are often found on rocky reef surfaces as well as on unconsolidated (sand) substrates.

• Red algae (Rhodophyta) are comparatively close relatives of the green algae.

• These forms may be found from the shallowest reef flats to depths exceeding 150 ft.

Ecological Role of Coral Reef Plants

• The taxonomically diverse array of photosynthetic life forms introduced above are responsible for coral reef "primary production" (the creation of "new" biomass from simple inorganic pre-cursors).

Thank You