Animals of the Great Barrier Reef
Although the Great Barrier Reef is known for its stunning coral species, the animals of the Great Barrier reef play an important part in its existence.
Animals of the Great Barrier Reef
Coral reefs are the habitat of choice for many different marine animals. In fact, coral reefs are animals themselves; made up of millions of small individual organisms known as coral polyps, coral reefs are among some of the largest colonies of living creatures in the world. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest of all of the world's coral reefs. Located in the waters off of the northern coast of Australia, in the region known as Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef is home to many different organisms. The many animals of the Great Barrier Reef coexist to make the Reef an important ocean ecosystem.
Of course, the most populous animals of the Great Barrier Reef are the coral polyps themselves. Over 400 species of coral live on the Reef, with the oldest species being the Porities species, which is around 1000 years old. Ancient colonies of Porities coral are about the size of a small room, and this type of coral can grow at the relatively slow rate of about one centimeter a year. The skeletons of the Porities coral are very important to scientists, because they can show historical information about the climate at the time these coral lived, such as water temperature and rainfall amounts. While there is an abundance of coral in the Great Barrier Reef, the coral themselves do not actually spawn very often, only on a few nights per year. This accounts for the slow growth of the coral reef.
Some of the other important animals of the Great Barrier Reef are mollusks There are over 5000 species of mollusk that live on the Reef, with such exotic mollusks as giant clams taking up residence here. Giant clams are the largest bivalve mollusk in the world, and they can grow to over three feet wide and live for around 70 years! Another mollusk found here is the cone shell – these can be very poisonous and they shoot their prey with a modified tooth which kills them.
The biggest animals of the Great Barrier Reef are, of course, the whales. There are 30 plus species of whale that live in the Great Barrier Reef area, with both dwarf minke whales (baleen whales) and humpback whales being frequent visitors during their migration periods. The Great Barrier Reef is home to many more animals, which makes it an excellent spot to observe the ocean's diversity.
