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๐Ÿฆ Animal world ๐Ÿฌ Sea animals

Coral

Coral

๐Ÿ“– In short

Coral may look like rocks or colorful trees on the seabed, but it's really made by tiny animals called polyps! These animals build hard limestone skeletons around their bodies, and millions of them live together to make coral reefs.

๐Ÿคฉ Did you know?

  • Australia's Great Barrier Reef is the biggest reef in the world, more than 2000 kilometers long.
  • Reef coral can't live in water colder than 18 degrees.
  • The Red Sea has some of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world.
  • Coral reefs grow very slowly, just a few centimeters a year.

๐Ÿ”Ž Find out more

๐ŸŒŸ A tiny animal

A coral polyp is a tiny soft animal with a mouth ringed by little tentacles that catch tiny living things in the water. It's related to the jellyfish.

๐Ÿ” Friends inside the coral

Tiny plants called algae live inside coral, making food for it from sunlight and giving it its beautiful colors. That's why coral needs clear, warm water.

๐Ÿ’ก Cities under the sea

Coral reefs are like busy cities under the sea, home to huge numbers of colorful fish, turtles, sea snails and octopuses.

๐ŸŽฏ Coral in danger

If the sea gets too warm or the water is polluted, coral loses its colors, turns white and can die. So we must keep the seas clean.

๐Ÿ“ธ More pictures

Coral
Coral
Coral

๐Ÿงฉ Test yourself

1 Who builds coral?

2 What is the biggest coral reef in the world?

3 Reef coral can't live in water colder than ?? degrees.

4 Which picture shows โ€œCoralโ€?

๐Ÿฆ Discover more

๐Ÿ“ท Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons