Scientists from James Cook University, University of Sydney and Queensland University of Technology have just discovered a vastHalimeda礁隐藏在众目睽睽下。
Halimeda是由钙化的叶状片段组成的绿色大藻类。随着这些细分的死亡，它们在数千年中积聚，称为生物毛。新发现Halimeda礁石由Halimedaalgae, which covers the bioherms, and the reef covers an area of 6095 km2, on the landward side of the northern Great Barrier Reef.
虽然Halimedahabitat was previously known to GBR scientists, this new study shows the reefs are three times larger and more complex than previously thought.
科学家使用了高分辨率的机载激光雷达和多微光测深数据集，以更准确地计算生物毛发。先前对礁石的研究使用了沉积物抓取，加油和地震分析，并且使用回声器概况插值估计分布为2000 km2。
Seminal literature describes the哈米达habitat as ridges and troughs running parallel to the reef. While these new findings show the reef as having a complex reticulate morphology with three distinct morphological sub-types: reticulate, annulate, and undulate.
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广阔的生活Halimeda在生物毛发和生物毛发本身的结构复杂性之上，创造了重要的冰屋间栖息地。
尽管他们在GBR生态系统中的确切作用尚不了解，但它们在生物多样性，苗圃避难以及在幼虫分散和斑块礁连接中的作用可能与海草草地和红树林栖息地相当。
昆士兰州技术大学的狂欢节和新研究论文的首席作家说HalimedaBioherms是巨大的。
“我们现在已经绘制了超过6000平方公里。这是先前估计的大小的三倍，从托雷斯海峡到道格拉斯港以北。它们显然形成了一个重要的冰屋间栖息地，该栖息地覆盖了大于相邻的珊瑚礁的区域。”[[James Cook University这是给予的
