Email Michelle . All Site materials copyright. The tan parts of the reef are the shells of dead coral polyps and the colorful parts are the living parts of the reef. Many of these fish use the nearby mangrove and kelp forests as nurseries for their young.
Reefs grow best in sunny, shallow, clear water.
The water must be clear and shallow so that the reef can get lots of sunlight. They rarely grow deeper than 40m and they prefer salt water, doing poorly in areas where there is a lot of river runoff due to the freshwater as well as the silt which can cover a reef or muddy the water blocking the sunlight. The best temperature for coral reefs is between 25 and 31 C and the best salinity is between 34 and 37 parts per 1000. The appropriate temperatures and salinities are most often found in the tropics. Fringing reefs are platforms that are continuous with the shore.