A Coral Reef

A Coral Reef

If you went scuba diving to study a coral reef, you would see a wonderland of shapes and colors. The reef itself is a rough ridge built from the hard body coverings of corals and other organisms. Hundreds of animals grow on the reef, hide in it, hunt around it, and swim past it. You might see crabs,sharks,jellyfish, and sponges.

You would certainly see coral animals. One end of a coral polyp's body makes calcium. The calcium builds up in to a stony cup around the polyp has either six or eight tentacles, depending on the type of coral.