Coral reef ecosystems are generally high in biodiversity, most often found in shallow tropical seas, and are threatened by factors including ocean acidification, global warming and sea level rise.

With too few tritons on the reef, crown-of-thorns starfish populations can explode, jeopardizing the living coral that makes up reefs. Covered with long, venomous spikes, the crown-of-thorns ...

Beneath the soft bodies of scleractinian, or stony corals, polyps secrete a calcium carbonate skeleton, and it is this skeleton that becomes the foundation of coral reef ecosystems. Coral colonies ...

Researchers have found that reef fish from the Arabian Gulf, the world's hottest sea, exhibit a higher tolerance to temperature fluctuations compared to those from more thermally stable coral reefs.

And yet, with ocean temperatures rising, coral reefs are disappearing at an alarming rate. Learn more about the Coral Reef Rescue Initiative, a partnership to safeguard globally significant coral ...

He captured the Great Barrier Reef during its latest—and most devastating—mass die-off, and documented how coral off the coast of Belize had partially recovered thanks to a no-fishing zone.

Corals are found in all of Earth's oceans, from tropical to freezing temperatures, however they only build coral reefs in warm, shallow seas in the tropics. Among the biggest and best-known are the ...

Those polyps clone themselves over and over again, eventually forming larger coral colonies that build reefs. That’s how typical reef-building corals, like the iconic elkhorn and staghorn ...