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Animals
Coral- Corals are actually animals. They belong to the phylum cnidaria which also contains jellyfish and other stinging creatures. There are two types of corals hard corals and soft corals which come in over 500 different species.
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| Coral Polyps feeding on plankton |
Hard corals create an external, vase-like, skeleton of calcium carbonate (limestone) and are the corals who build the structure of the reefs. They expel eggs and sperm into the water and if the two meet, they create a larvae, called a planula, which will settle onto the reef and beginning building it's own home on top generations of older, dead coral. The coral piles up and forms a coral reef. The coral polyps( the actual coral animal) look like little upside down jellyfish with their tentacles sticking out of their shells to sting and catch plankton drifting past. The polyps are usually nocturnal (active during the night).
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| Finger Coral a type of soft coral |
Soft corals look like colorful, delicate, sometimes feathery, plants (such as sea fans) and only create enough calcium carbonate to keep their shape. Each coral polyp of soft coral has eight tentacles. The precious red coral used in jewelry is a type of soft coral.
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| Potato Cod: at depth of 15m, the "Cod Hole", Great Barrier Reef copy right© Australian Museum, 2006 |
Potato Cod (Epinephelus tukula)- The potato cod is the one of the largest members of the grouper family. It is cream or blue-grey colored with grey brown “potato” like spots covering its body. These fish are about 6 feet long and (200cm in length and weigh approximately 100kg) Potato cod ambush their prey which include small rays, crabs, lobsters and fish. Their inquisitive natures make them easy targets for hunters, and so these are one of the few completely protected species in the WA.
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| Striped Cleaning Wrasse (the small ones) |
Striped Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus)- The striped cleaner wrasse is blue and yellow with a white or yellow underbelly. They get their name from the fact that they swim up to larger fish and actually swim into their mouth or gills to eat parasites or leftover food that got stuck. They grow to 4.5 inches and have a pair of canines in the front of both jaws.
Sea Turtles- There are 6 breeding species of sea turtles around the Great Barrier Reef: Green,
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| Sea Turtle on Yonge Reef photo:V.Harriot |
Leatherback, Hawksbill, Loggerhead, Flatback and Olive Ridley. Sea turtles lay hundreds of eggs at a time in the beach. Mothers may come up several times in a week to lay another clutch. The temperature of the sand determines the turtles sex. After hatching, the small turtles are carried around the ocean until they mature at 30-50 years old when they come back to the beach where they hatched to lay their own eggs. Sea turtles can spend up to half and hour underwater before coming up for air and can actually drink the sea water, expelling salt through glands by their eyes.
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| Moray Eel |
Moray Eels- Moray eels are in the family Muraenidae. They can be brightly colored and grow to 15 feet. They eat fish, octopus and crustaceans and reproduce by laying eggs. They are found in shallow reef areas and some species can live to 30 years or more. Moray eels constantly open and close their mouths to breath. This action, and the fact that most species of morays have thin needle like, sharp teeth on their upper and lower jaws (and sometimes the roofs of their mouth) makes them look frightening, but they usually won't bite unless provoked. Unfortunately for divers though, they like to hang out in caves and sometimes they don't realize that a nice looking hand hold is home to a few moray eels.
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| Dugongs: GBRMA |
Dugongs (Dugong dugon) - Dugongs grow to from about 7 to 11 feet, can weigh 500 to 925 pounds and live to about 70 years old. They usually live in groups of two but can be found in herds of one to two hundred. They feed on sea grasses preferring the kinds found at 120 meters and usually dive for 4 minutes but can hold their breath up to 8 minutes. They have one calf when they are between 6-17 years old and then have 2.5-5 years. Dugongs are actually more closely related to elephants than whales or dolphins. Dugong populations are dropping rapidly, 20% in the last three dugong generations.
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| Crown-of-Thorn Starfish |
Crown of Thorn Starfish (Acanthaster planci)- Of the phylum Echinodermata, the Crown of Thorn Starfish can grow to 18 inches across, has 12-19 arms and is covered with reddish spikes which are very painful as they are mildly venemous. The Crown of Thorn Starfish feeds on coral polyps and there was a great scare on the Great Barrier Reef in 1963 when the populations of starfish increased because of over hunting of its natural enemy( a large marine snail called theTriton Trumpet (Charonia tritonis)) and began destroying parts of the reef. Many starfish were killed with injections of formaldehyde or removed and killed other ways. Later research showed that the boom of starfish was actually cyclic and had happened in the past.
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| Clown Fish |
Clown Fish (Amphiprion percula)- Clown Fish are a type of anemone fish. Anemone Fish are any of the 12 species constituting of the genus Amphiprion or the family Pomacentridae. Clown Fish grow to 2 inches, are bright orange with three blue-white stripes around their body and are unaffected by the stinging tentacles of anemones.
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| Sea Anemone :Tealia |
Sea Anemone- Sea anemones are any member of the invertebrate order Actiniaria,( class Anthozoa, and phylum Cnidaria). There are 1,000 species varying in size form a few millimeters, to 5 feet in diameter and are found all over the ocean. They usually look like flowers with a round mouth in the top of their body surrounded by tentacles. Nematocysts are structures in the tentacles that allow the anemone to sting and paralyze its prey -fishes and other marine animals.