学会发现珊瑚生长形式
珊瑚s are the foundation of the marine environment, but the diversity of coral species often gets overlooked. Looking for corals can be overwhelming. There are so many different shapes, sizes and colors to look for that it’s hard to know where to start.
In this series, Learn to Spot Coral Diversity, we will give you a few simple steps to follow to get you looking at corals with new eyes and how to become a coral spotter. Once you’re done reading these articles the reef will never be the same way again and you will find it easier to spot corals while diving.
关于珊瑚的事实
珊瑚s are found in all the tropical seas of the world, and mostly in areas closest to shore, and closest to the surface between 1 and 40m. This is because corals need light to survive. There are two general types of corals soft corals and hard corals. To learn how to tell the difference between the two点击这里。
关于礁石潜水员，在本系列中，我们将主要关注硬光合珊瑚。这些珊瑚建立了硬钙骨骨骼，它们成为珊瑚礁，对于建造鱼类的复杂栖息地很重要。实际上，您发现所有海洋物种中有25％超过25％的珊瑚礁居住！考虑到它们覆盖不到海洋的1％，这是一个令人印象深刻的数字。
First Step to Becoming a Coral Spotter
在本系列中，我们想为您提供简单的工具来发现珊瑚，并帮助您成为珊瑚的发现者！珊瑚的发现者是潜水员和浮潜者，旨在发现珊瑚多样性。
这听起来很压倒性的考虑there are hundreds of species of corals. But there is a simple trick you can use to start training your eye to spot corals. To learn more about thepsychology of coral spotting查看劳拉·沃尔顿（Laura Walton）博士的这篇文章。
Anyways back to our simple trick. If you are serious about becoming a coral spotteryour first mission is to learn to spot six unique growth forms of coral.一开始这似乎过于简单，但是我们保证，花潜水学习以发现珊瑚生长形式，您的大脑将开始识别前所未有的珊瑚。
分枝
成为珊瑚的第一步之一是学习识别珊瑚生长形式。也许其中最知名的是分支珊瑚。但是即使在这个可识别的群体中，珊瑚分支也有很多
Branches can be long and skinny, thick and wide. They can have long tubular corallites or small rough bumpy corallites. Some of the branches are very delicate breaking with the slightest disturbance while others are thick and robust helping to buffer the coastline from waves and storms. Some even have puffy flowing tentacles, which can easily be mistaken for a soft coral. Click the link to learn more:
关联：学会发现6种类型的分支珊瑚
电镀
Spotting coral can be overwhelming when everything looks the same. However, learning to recognize corals based on growth forms in the easiest way to master the art of coral spotting.
从墙壁到珊瑚礁顶部的所有珊瑚礁栖息地都发现了电镀珊瑚。板可以宽阔，光滑或叶状，并像生菜叶一样在边缘皱纹。
Plating corals have adapted to living further down reef slopes by spreading out their skeleton. This allows them to capture more light which feeds the photosynthetic algae living inside their tissue.
关联：学会发现6种镀珊瑚类型
包裹
珊瑚以不同的生长形式生长，以在不同的栖息地中生存，而最容易忽视的珊瑚生长形式是包裹物种。这些珊瑚像面包皮一样沿着岩石蔓延，几乎就像一层水泥将基板融合在一起。
与较旧的珊瑚骨架相比，包裹珊瑚的增长边缘通常是浅色。这种边缘可以是厚厚的圆形层，看起来像融化的糖果，或者以后几乎无法与岩石区分开。
与任何其他生长形式的珊瑚形式相比，包裹珊瑚可以忍受高流动环境。您几乎可以在几乎每个水下栖息地中找到尖锐的珊瑚，但是，您会发现更坚硬的品种占主导地位的礁石墙，这些礁石壁很容易发生迅速电流。
关联：学会发现珊瑚
MEANDERING
曲折只是大脑珊瑚的另一个词，因为漫长的蜿蜒的墙壁和山谷看起来像大脑！
有许多不同种类的蜿蜒珊瑚，在大多数情况下蜿蜒的珊瑚grow into round dome shape colonies. When living in high flow environments or at the edge of reef walls they can also form plates.
当您看蜿蜒的珊瑚时，您可以学到有关珊瑚生物学，山脊和山谷的两个新术语。这些术语描述了曲折模式的特征和可以帮助更先进的珊瑚识别。例如，当试图识别两个类似物种之间时，您可能必须测量山脊或山谷深度之间的距离。
蜿蜒的珊瑚的息肉位于山谷内，取决于物种，有时这些息肉与珊瑚的其余部分不同。蜿蜒的珊瑚的息肉通常在白天隐藏，晚上出来喂食。
关联：学会发现蜿蜒的珊瑚
Also, remember that some corals are like chameleons and can take on a few different growth forms, so don’t get caught up in the idea of putting each coral in a specific growth box. Instead, just try diving with the intention of recognizing these six growth forms of coral. Branching, encrusting, meandering, massive, plating, and solitary.
Let us know in the comments if you have tried coral spotting! What is your favorite growth form of coral, and which do you find challenging to spot?
