Coral Reef 1 Vocab

Vocabulary: Coral Reefs 1 – Abiotic Factors
Vocabulary
 Consumer – an organism that obtains energy by feeding on organic materials.

o Organic materials are carbon-based compounds produced by living things.
o All animals, all fungi, and even some plants are consumers.
o Coral reef consumers include fishes, sponges, and other animals.
 Coral – a class of marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that are important reef builders
in tropical oceans.
o A coral colony consists of many tiny polyps. Each polyp contains a set of
tentacles surrounding a central mouth.
o Polyps of stony corals excrete exoskeletons of calcium carbonate. Over time,
coral colonies can grow to large size.
o Corals thrive in warm, shallow, clear, and nutrient-poor oceans.
 Coral bleaching – a process in which corals lose their zooxanthellae, usually as a result
of abnormally high water temperatures.
o Bleaching often results in the death of the host coral.
 Coral reef – a complex and diverse marine ecosystem formed on the exoskeletons
secreted by stony corals.
o Coral reefs are found in shallow, clear waters in tropical regions of the world.
o Coral reefs occupy less than 1% of the world’s ocean floor but contain over 25%
of all marine species.
 Filter feeder – an organism that eats by straining food, such as plankton, from water.
o Examples of filter feeders include sponges, manta rays, whale sharks, baleen
whales, barnacles, clams, flamingos, and many others.
 Food chain – a sequence of organisms in which each organism feeds on the one below.
o Example: Algae  Parrotfish  Grouper  Shark.
In this food chain, parrotfish eat algae, groupers eat parrotfish, and sharks eat
groupers.
 Food web – a diagram that shows feeding relationships for a group of organisms.
 Grazer – an organism that feeds by eating plants, algae, and other immobile organisms.
o Important reef grazers include parrotfish and long-spined sea urchins.
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 Nutrients – substances used by an organism for energy, growth, or other processes
essential to life.
o Important nutrients in seawater include nitrates and phosphates.
o Algae and plankton thrive in high-nutrient waters. Corals favor low-nutrient water.
 Ocean acidification – a decrease in the pH of the ocean, caused by increased absorption

of carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere.
o In the past two centuries, average ocean pH has dropped from about 8.25 to
8.14. Many scientists predict ocean will become more acidic if atmospheric
carbon dioxide concentrations continue to rise.
o Many marine organisms, including corals, must spend more energy to excrete
calcium carbonate when ocean pH is lower.
 pH – a measure of how many hydrogen ions there are in a solution. The greater the
number of hydrogen ions is, the more acidic the solution and the lower the pH.
o A solution with a pH of 7 is neutral. A solution with a pH below 7 is acidic, and a
solution with a pH greater than 7 is basic.
o Ocean water is slightly basic, with an average pH of 8.1.
 Plankton – small organisms that live suspended in ocean water.

o Photoplankton are algae that produce energy from photosynthesis.
o Zooplankton are small animals that that feed on other plankton.
 Predator – an animal that kills and eats other animals.
 Producer – an organism that converts simple inorganic matter (such as water and
carbon dioxide) into organic matter (such as sugar and protein).
o Most plants use the energy in sunlight to create organic matter from carbon
dioxide and water. This process is called photosynthesis.
o Important coral reef producers include phytoplankton, algae, and the
zooxanthellae that live inside corals.
 Sediment – rock fragments that have been transported to a different location.

o Examples of sediments include clay, silt, sand, and pebbles.
o Smaller sediments (such as clay and silt) can remain suspended in the water for
a long period of time, reducing the sunlight that reaches the ocean floor.
 Zooxanthellae – photosynthetic algae that live inside corals.

o Zooxanthellae and corals have a mutualistic relationship that benefits both
organisms.
 Coral provide zooxanthellae with shelter and compounds needed for
photosynthesis.
 Zooxanthellae provide corals with oxygen and food.
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Vocabulary: Coral Reefs 1 – Abiotic Factors

 Consumer – an organism that obtains energy by feeding on organic materials.

o Important reef grazers include parrotfish and long-spined sea urchins.

 Ocean acidification – a decrease in the pH of the ocean, caused by increased absorption

 Plankton – small organisms that live suspended in ocean water.

 Predator – an animal that kills and eats other animals.

 Sediment – rock fragments that have been transported to a different location.

 Zooxanthellae – photosynthetic algae that live inside corals.

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