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What colors are the coral in the Great Barrier Reef?

What colors are the coral in the Great Barrier Reef?

It is the soft corals that come in vibrant colours, many of which are bright pink and mauve, and they form the home for numerous other marine species, like fish, prawns, and sea slugs.

How many colors of coral are in the Great Barrier Reef?

600 different
The amazing array of coral on the Great Barrier Reef is responsible for many of the bright and beautiful colours that this natural icon is internationally renowned for. About 600 different types of coral can be found in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and all of them come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours.

What color are reef corals?

green-brown
All living corals have this green-brown color from the algae. But many corals appear much brighter. These corals also produce protein pigments. These can be a variety of colors, but most reflect light in purple, blue, green, or red.

What is the most common type of coral in the Great Barrier Reef?

Staghorn variety
The most common type of hard coral found in the Great Barrier Reef is the Staghorn variety, which over time forms limestone casings that become an important building block in the reef’s expansion providing a safe habitat for its many ocean-dwelling creatures to live in.

What are the colors of the Great Barrier Reef?

Great Barrier Reef Coral. The vibrant colours of the Great Barrier Reef coral are striking, with vivid reds and cool blues coexisting side by side to form an underwater rainbow which has to be seen up close to be properly appreciated. The Great Barrier Reef, like most other coral reefs on earth grew from a hard surface on…

How many types of coral are there in the Great Barrier Reef?

About 600 different types of coral can be found in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and all of them come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours. Despite looking like plants, these corals are actually colonies of very small animals called coral polyps which are closely related to jellyfish. There are two main types of corals — hard and soft.

How did the Great Barrier Reef get its shape?

The Great Barrier Reef, like most other coral reefs on earth grew from a hard surface on the ocean floor and continually evolved over the course of 500,000 years to take the shape of the vibrant ecosystem that can be found in today.

Why are the corals of the Great Barrier Reef turning white?

Hard corals have a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae algae, which provide them with food and colouring. High water temperatures cause this relationship to break down; the zooxanthellae are expelled by their host corals, and the corals starve and turn white in the phenomenon known as bleaching.