STUDY GUIDE Chapter 14 Castro & Huber
Chapter 14: Coral Reefs
1. Explain why coral reefs are normally compared with rain forests. What are their similarities?
2. What types of organisms are corals? What type of inorganic molecule is the main component in coral reefs?
3. Why are corals able to form huge reefs? Explain the connection between corals and Zooxanthellae algae.
4. What percent of food do coral get from these symbiotic algae?
5. Why does a colony behave as one individual? What parts of the corals are common to the whole colony?
6. How do the tiny polyps inside the skeleton of corals feed? Explain the four or five different ways in which
a coral polyp gets the nutrients needed to survive
7. Explain how a colony of corals begins
8. What other organisms apart of corals are mentioned as “reef builders”?
9. Why do corals that form reefs grow only in shallow waters?
10. What conditions are needed for corals to grow? Explain: types of waters, sediments, temperature, and
pollution.
11. What is bleaching?
12. Explain why most corals do not do well near estuaries
13. Briefly explain the differences in the general structure between the three types of reefs
14. What type of reef does the biggest reef in the world belong to?
15. Where in the world are atolls generally found?
16. Charles Darwin was the person that solved the puzzle of atolls formation, what was his reasoning?
17. What other organisms apart of corals have symbiotic algae or bacteria and recycle nutrients just as corals
do?
18. Explain what types of organisms may compete for space in a coral reef
19. Mention the reasons why seaweeds do not outgrow corals in reef areas
20. What organisms feed on corals?
21. Why are coral reefs so productive if tropical waters are actually very poor in nutrients?
22. Explain why grazers are an important component of the coral reefs. What types of animals are grazers in
coral reefs?
23. Compare coral reefs with estuaries considering: phytoplanktonic productivity, amount of organic matter,
amount of sediments, richness and diversity of species, and presence of plants adapted to the saline
environment, and presence of algae
Marine Biology
Instructor: Jose Bava, Ph.D