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Peros Banhos Ile de la Passe Acropora tables ocean side 5-10m


Description
On the reef terraces between about 5 to 10 m deep may be seen several species of table corals. These are fast-growing corals which are some of the first to arrive after a reef has been killed, for example as a result of warming. The white tips or rim to each table are where the rapidly expanding branchlets that make up each table have not yet acquired brown symbiotic algae so that the white limestone skeleton that has just been deposited is visible. Tables are more fragile than the bolder corals so the species are much less common in very shallow water where wave energy is stronger, but instead form conspicuous forests in these mid depths of the reef.
Subject
coral_hard
Subject
biological_organisms
Contact
Anne Sheppard
Contact email
a.sheppard@hotmail.com
Authors