page_title: Coral reef
hierarchical_section_title: Coral reef
caption_attribution_description: English: A Blue Starfish (Linckia laevigata) resting on hard Acropora and Porites corals (one can also see Anthiinae fish and crinoids). Lighthouse, Ribbon Reefs, Great Barrier Reef.
context_page_description: A coral reef is a large underwater structure made of dead and living corals. In most healthy reefs, stony corals are predominant. They are built from colonial polyps from the phylum Cnidaria which secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate. The reefs are formed in tropical marine areas and between the tropics. The reef acts as the home of many tropical fish and other animals. Coral reefs systems are a major tourism attraction because of their beauty and color of the corals and their many associated animals.
  People look at them while snorkeling and diving. One example of a coral reef is in Malaysia at Pulau Tioman, off the State of Pahang and also one of the most famous - the Great Barrier Reef
context_section_description: A coral reef is a large underwater structure made of dead and living corals (press to see more). In most healthy reefs, stony corals are predominant. They are built from colonial polyps from the phylum Cnidaria which secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate. The reefs are formed in tropical marine areas (30 degrees north and south of the equator) and between the tropics. The reef acts as the home of many tropical fish and other animals. Coral reefs systems are a major tourism attraction because of their beauty and color of the corals and their many associated animals.  
  People look at them while snorkeling and diving. One example of a coral reef is in Malaysia at Pulau Tioman, off the State of Pahang and also one of the most famous - the Great Barrier Reef
caption: Some of the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef, off Queensland, Australia.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "A Blue Starfish (Linckia laevigata) resting on hard Acropora coral. Lighthouse, Ribbon Reefs, Great Barrier Reef", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon DIGITAL IXUS 500", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2004:08:15 14:23:20", "Image Artist": "Richard Ling", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Copyright": "Copyright (c) 2004 Richard Ling (richard@research.canon.com.au). Licensed under GFDL and CC-by-sa-2.5. All other rights reserved.", "Image ExifOffset": "1036", "Image XPComment": "[65, 0, 32, 0, 66, 0, 108, 0, 117, 0, 101, 0, 32, 0, 83, 0, 116, 0, 97, 0, ... ]", "Image XPAuthor": "Richard Ling", "Image XPSubject": "[65, 0, 32, 0, 66, 0, 108, 0, 117, 0, 101, 0, 32, 0, 83, 0, 116, 0, 97, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2572", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6027", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "16/5", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2004:08:15 14:23:20", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2004:08:15 14:23:20", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "133/16", "EXIF ApertureValue": "107/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "107/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "291/32", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1200", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1600", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "1200", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1600", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "2424", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "300000/53", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1600000/283", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}