A coral reef is populated with a high variety of marine life. It has a two-part structure: the hard one, which is the skeleton, made of various Anthozoa and softer one, composed of some Hydrozoa. A coral reef can be defined as a marine environment populated with all sorts of life forms such as fish, polyps, invertebrates, and algae.
Even if the coral reef might not seem very important to some people, it is of a key element to the coexistence of many species of marine creatures and even to humans. We can, for example, regard the existence of a Coral reef as an incubator, meant to prevent the disappearance of the fish populations.
Parts of a Coral reef are taken, in order to be placed in a fish tank; this provides the fish in the aquariums with the symbiotic relationship they need in order to thrive. A coral reef will also provide shelter for endangered species and even for species that do not have the means to defend themselves from predators. This is what creates the symbiotic relationship between the corals and the fish inhabiting them.
One of the threats for a Coral reef is bleaching. This means that the temperature of the water in the ocean exceeds the normal range of temperature, causing white dots to appear all over the Coral reef. The white dots are responsible from preventing the natural cycle of reproduction and spread across the whole colony, eventually killing it.
Another damage to a coral reef colony is cause by the weights attached to the boats, which can crush parts of the reef and their inhabitants within seconds. And last, but not the least, there are the hobbyist that carelessly take parts of the Coral reef in order to sell or put in their aquarium.
