NR 150 1st Edition Lecture 16 Outline of Last Lecture I. Classification of Benthic marine environments by locationII. The importance of competitionIII. Benthic organisms live on or in the seafloorOutline of Current Lecture IV. Coral reefsV. Development of an atollVI. Phylum Cnidarians (>9000 species)Current LectureI. Coral reefsa. Coral reefs are the rain forests of the oceansb. Rich coral reefs in nutrient poor wateri. Hypothesizes that they make nutrients by sponges filtering zooplankton and algaec. Support many different species of marine life and sea birdsd. Form complex food webse. Hermatypic coralsi. Tropical corals that form reefsf. Sea coral makes excellent human bone graftsi. Coral’s porous structure, with some chemical tweaks, is the perfect place for new bone and tissue growthii. Convert some of the coral’s calcium carbonate to a more bone-like materialg. Coral reefs yield new proteins to tackle HIVThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.h. No coral reefs in the Southern Atlantic because of the sediments from Amazon Riveri. Defensei. Some have developed aggressive methodsii. To survive and thrive in space-limited environment, some corals have developed defensive mechanismsiii. Mesenterial filaments are string-like extensions of the mesenteries- the internal folds of tissues which create structure within a coral polyp’s body1. Typically full of nemocysts- speciealized stingning cells used to capture preyiv. Terpenoid compounds1. Chemical warfare, similar to turpentine, impedes the growth of neighboring coralsj. Mutualistic relationships between corals and dinoflagellate endosymbiontsi. Dinoflagellates performs photosynthesis, produce carbohydrates that the corals can eatk. Symbiotic relationship between corals and zooxanthellaei. Zooxanthellae provides 90% of the corals energy requirements1. Photosynthesis2. Absorb waste productsii. Corals provide shelter and a safe and stable environmentiii. Coral’s success in nutrient-poor water depends on dinoflagellates and zooxanthellael. Coral bleachingi. Corals have color when zooxanthellae are present in the tissueii. Algae crawling over the coral causes coral death, zooxanthellae are removed, corals turn whiteII. Development of an atolla. Fringing reefs cling to the margin of landb. Barrier reefs are separated from land by a lagoonc. Atolls are ring-shaped islands of coral reef enclosing lagoonsIII. Phylum Cnidarians (>9000 species)a. Jellyfishb. Coralsc.