Coral reef in Tubbataha Natural Park

Description:

Description: English: The image was taken on a Catlin Seaview Survey expedition to Tubbataha Natural Park of the Philippine waters of the Sulu Sea in the heart of the Coral Triangle. A young, tabulate Acroporid coral can be seen reaching its branches toward the sun to fuel its Symbiodinium algal symbionts with a plethora of reef fishes in the background. It is the marine equivalent of a young tree shooting skyward to fulfil its ecological role in a forest. Corals, branching Acroporids especially, contribute greatly to habitat complexity, or rugosity, of reefs increasing the microhabitats for other reef creatures.”. Date: 29 August 2014. Source: BMC Ecology image competition 2014: the winning images. BMC Ecology 2014, 14:24 doi:10.1186/s12898-014-0024-6. Author: Catherine Kim (University of Queensland).