Coral Reefs and a quarter of the world's fish species are seriously endangered by man's activities.
Coral Reefs are the largest living structures on earth, and there are over 4,000 species of reef fish, making coral reefs the home of a quarter of all fish species found on the planet. They are of enormous economic importance with 500 million people relying on them for survival, and generating $375 billion each year. They are seriously endangered.
Coral.
Coral is the name given to about 800 species of small coelenterates (relatives of the jellyfish) which live together in colonies. These animals have small plants inside them, and they make a hard skeleton to live on. The dead skeleton is also called coral. Because the plants need light to enable them to photosynthesise corals are restricted to shallow, clear water. These requirements limit the areas where corals can survive to about 1% of the earth’s surface. (reef photo gallery).
Other Invertebrates.
Coral Reefs represent the most Biologically diverse habitat on earth. Almost every phylum is represented, and the communities are so ancient that they have evolved ways to re-cycle nearly all nutrients. A coral reef represents a ‘closed system’ ecologically speaking. This means that everything the reef needs to survive is actually produced on the reef itself and then fully re-cycled. Without the problems caused by human activities they could go on indefinitely.
Under Serious Threat.
10% of the world’s reefs are dead already, and another 70% will be gone by 2050. All of the problems are man-made.
Fishing for Food.
There are many ways of fishing coral reefs and most of them are destructive. Trawling through a reef rips it to shreds, and the use of explosives is as bad as it sounds. Dynamite is often used to kill fish so they float to the surface and can be collected from boats, but this technique is indiscriminate and kills everything including the coral.
Fishing for the Aquarium Trade.
Often sodium cyanide is poured into the water to render the fish inactive so that they float to the surface where they can be collected. They survive this, but usually die later of liver damage. Of the 4,000 species of reef fish that this method kills, only 200 or so species are required for the aquarium. The rest are left on the reef, but their days are numbered!
It is important to say that there are completely ethical ways of collecting reef fish for aquaria. See here: (about the Marine Aquarium Trade).
Coral Reefs are precious, so please make sure that your tropical marine fish have been collected ethically.
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