40 Wonders of the Coral Reef ...

A tranquil ocean scene where you'll never imagine a coral reef teeming with life lies just below the surface.

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There are hard corals and soft corals. These are soft.

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Coral reefs are home to the most colorful marine creatures found anywhere.

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Australia's Great Barrier Reef is the longest coral reef in the world.

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This poisonous creature roams the Australian reefs.

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There's no definitive answer to the question how many different forms of life the coral reefs support.

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The coral reefs in the Red Sea make it one of the premier diving spots outside of the tropics and the world's major reef systems.

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Among the amazing array of reef creatures, the sea horse is still one of the most wondrous in that it's the male that carries the babies and gives birth.

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He looks too pretty to be caught and eaten on a seafood platter ^_^

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This is a species of damselfish.

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This magnificent picture of a shoal of stunning blue fish was shot off Malaysia.

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Sea anemones are predatory animals that anchor themselves to the reefs.

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Known as "carpet coral", they can spread to completely cover a rock with brightly colored circular patterns. They're popular with hobby fish keepers.

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The real Nemo.

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Predatory sea snails range in size from very small to huge.

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AKA the Napoleon Fish, it can change from female to male, and there is only one male per territory. If he disappears, the largest female will change sex to male. .

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Incredible colors abound.

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Several green sea turtles gather at a cleaning station on the reef.

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Reef fish are so much more colorful and heavily patterned than deep sea and cold ocean fish.

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One of the most brightly colored corals.

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The colors are kaleidoscopic.

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The Belize reef is home to more than 100 different kinds of coral and some 500 species of fish.

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It looks like a skeleton leaf.

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The Roatán reef (Honduras) is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef in the Caribbean Sea - off the coast of Central America.

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It's not actually a jellyfish but a polyp.

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Corals really are such fantastical shapes.

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The lionfish is a venomous fish and a major predator on the coral reefs.

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I've always thought starfish were just a sandy brown color.

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The corals will waft with the movement of the waves like your hair blowing in the breeze.

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The Great Barrier Reef throws some amazing shapes.

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It's obvious where that name comes from.

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When you go scuba diving on the reefs you have to share your water space with loads of fish.

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OMG look at that electric orange and acid green, not to mention the pink and turquoise.

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The white corals are just as stunning as the colored corals.

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It looks like a plant but it's actually a marine gastropod mollusk.

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Red fish in the Red Sea.

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It doesn't have to be multi-colored and garish to be beautiful.

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A common coral in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

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The muted palette is just wonderful.

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But there's something extra special when you see all the colors of the rainbow.

Have you dived or snorkeled coral reefs? I've snorkeled a bit and up close, reefs are a truly amazing sight.