They are close relatives of sea anemones and jellyfish, as each coral is a colony consisting of many individual sea anemone-like polyps that are all interconnected. A healthy coral reef system can support a huge number of aquatic animal life. Vertebrate Coral Reef Animals Among vertebrate animals, only a relative few groups contain species that are regularly found within coral reef communities. The fish that has a scientific name of Zeus faber can reach its length up to 60 cm long and 2.4 kg of weight. 2013). During the 1980s, a widespread decline of the long-spined sea urchin (Diadema antillarum) was reported from a number of Caribbean reef locations. Because sea horse is classified as a slow swimmer, sea horse using its ability to camouflage in the seaweed to deceive its predator. However, these sporadic visitors spend most of their life cycles in other habitat types and are therefore not generally considered member of coral reef communities. The biggest clam can reach its weight up to 550 pounds or equal with 250 kg with its size up to 1.5 m long. The sea snakes’s color is dark, purplish brown, brown, or blackish brown above. Its life span is about one and a half year. The largest jelly fish is the lion’s mane that can reach its body size up to 1 m. Their predators are including turtle and fish. Besides, the clown fish will eating detritus from the anemone and keep it clean. 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. Sea horse habit in the warm water around the seaweed. The biggest sea cucumber can reach its length up to 2 m and it is the tiger’s tail sea cucumber. Caribbean coral reefs occur within a relatively small part of the Earth’s tropical seas (left). Over the past 50 years, sporadic outbreaks of the coral-feeding “crown of thorns” starfish (Acanthaster planci, pictured right) have periodically ravaged coral reefs throughout much of the Indo-Pacific. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Most of them are not a single celled animal, but there are also some of them that is a single celled animal such as, foraminifera and radiolarians. (3) Encrusting sponges form a comparatively thin but often expansive layer atop reef substrates. Coral reef bleaching, the whitening of diverse invertebrate taxa, results from the loss of symbiotic zooxanthellae and/or a reduction in photosynthetic pigment concentrations in zooxanthellae residing within the gastrodermal tissues of host animals. At night, they wander about more freely. of the Indo-Pacific are the largest and undoubtedly the best-known of all bivalve coral reef reef mollusks. This animal has a life span about 5 to 10 years long. About their size, sea horse can reach its length from the head to tail up to 30 cm long. In the world, there are more than 2000 species of shrimp. Dugongs (Indo-Pacific) and manatees (Caribbean) were once plentiful in coral reef lagoons. ‘Coral cover’ is a term used to represent the proportion of an area occupied by corals. This sharp usually live in the shallow water in the sea floor, coastline, and reef. Sea stars (Class Asteroida)- These animals, also known as “starfish”, are often found in sand and seagrass habitat around coral reefs as well as upon the hard reef substrate. Because, there will be more interesting article that you will regret if you miss it! Coral belongs to the class Anthozoa in the animal phylum Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones and jellyfish. The United Nations recently released a new report projecting future coral reef bleaching globally. Not all gastropods are plant-feeders however; some are active and voracious predators of other small invertebrates. Mammals within the coral reef ecosystem are rare sights.When mammals are spotted in coral reefs, they are usually visiting to feed. Most of crab live in the ocean but there are some crab that live on land. Like their land-based relatives the insects, crustaceans have an external jointed skeleton and numerous paired appendages that function in locomotion, feeding, and in a sensory capacity. Two major groups of animals inhabit coral reefs: animals with backbones (called vertebrates) and those without these structures (called invertebrates). Sea snakes are found only in the Indo-Pacific region (excluding the Red Sea). Nonetheless, at times their numbers in reef areas are substantial. It also has various color and feeds on detritus and plankton. A coral reef may grow into a permanent coral island. Often called ‘rainforests of the sea,’ coral reefs are home to a spectacular variety of organisms. Some of the most colorful animal species in the world make their home among the coral. Ocean warming and coral bleaching events have had a devastating impact on coral reefs, critical to supporting marine biodiversity. There are between 55-65 recognized species of sea snakes, but of these only a relative few are commonly found in coral reef areas. The Australian sea horse has the best camouflage compare to another sea horse. They usually like to stay in the rocky floor in the shallow to the great depth area. There are about 100 species of pufferfish in the world. And most of them are living in the sub tropical and tropical marine waters. A sergeant major fish swims by the edge of a patch reef in Cuba’s Bay of Pigs XibalbaWikiCommons ... Corals are animals, but their hard reefs are similar to trees in that they can store information about environmental conditions. How many different types of animals live in coral reefs. Download this infographic | Infographic Text. 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