Science Projects 1. CORAL REEFS

Where in the world?

• Coral reefs are generally found in clear, tropical oceans because they need to stay very warm.
• The 3 types of reefs are: fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls.
• The Great Barrier Reef is longer than 1200 miles (that's very long, for a coral reef!).

Climate and Weather

• Coral reefs need water that is between 68-82 F.

Plants

• phytoplankton- microalgae found in oceans across the world.
• algae- diverse group of aquatic organisms.
• zooxanthellae-single celled dinoflagellate
• seagrasses-flowering plants belonging to 4 families
• coral polyp-tiny, soft bodied organisms related to sea anemones and jellyfish

Animals

• sea urchins
• sponge-members of the phylum porifera, are a basal Metaxoa clade as sister of the diploblasts.
• seastars-also known as starfish
• Great white shark- carnivore and a VERY scary fish
• Sting ray- possibly eats jellyfish
• sea snails- or sea slugs?
• anemonefish - are they related to clownfish?
• butterflyfish- they must look pretty!

COOL FACTS ABOUT CORAL REEFS AND SEAHORSES

• You can see the Great Barrier Reef from space!
• The Pacific Ocean has the most coral reefs on Earth!
• MALE seahorses give birth to babies (the female lays the eggs)

2. SEA HORSES

Physical Ch.

• fins- for suimming around
• tail- wrap around things ( prey )
• tiny , spiny plates- for protection against enemies
• brood pouch- holds babies or eggs ( male )
• they can be many different colours
• sometimes their colour helps them blend in to the coral and hide from things that eat them

Habitat

• world's tropical and temperate coastal waters.
• example: Pacific Ocean: found west of British Columbia (where I live!)

Prey

• plankton- diverse collection of organisms and are also food for whales and fish.
• small fish- example: goldfish or clownfish (or medium sized fish)
• shrimp (or possibly krill)

What hunts it

• crabs - King crab
• bigger fish- possibly certain salmon, hailbut, or stingrays.
• sting rays- (look at 2 bullet point
• humans ( for medicine)

Adaptations

• bony plates on it's body- protection: like a spiky cactus you cannot touch(owch)!
• camoflage- to hide from enemies - they can blend in to coral that is similar to their colouring
• unique vison- they have really good sense of sight - they can see far and in dark oceans

Baby seahorses

• Male seahorses have a pouch on their tummy called the brood pouch to hold eggs until babies are born.
• Once babies leave the pouch they do not come back to it, instead they join others and find food together while clinging to each others tails to keep safe

Different seahorses

• long- snouted
• big- bellied
• dwarf
• yellow
• northern
• spiny
• MUCH more included

Questions

• Why do male seahorses give birth to babies?
• Are they almost endangered?
• Why do they seem so hard to find in the coral reefs?

Seahorse diagram

Male seahorses

• Unlike females, males give birth to babies instead of females. P.S. the female lays the eggs (spoilers!).
• it is equipped with a pouch on the front- facing side of the tail.
• When seahorses mate, males get up to 1,500 eggs from the females, who lay the eggs.
• The eggs stay in the pouch for 9 to 45 days until they hatch.

BYE!