Boulder Star Coral (IMAGE)
Caption
Boulder Star Coral (Orbicella franksi) grows in overlapping layers in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico. Researchers at Rice University, the University of the Virgin Islands and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration set out to quantify how barnacles infest stony coral, where they reduce calcium carbonate in the reefs that harbor diverse marine life and help prevent coastal erosion.
Credit
National Marine Sanctuaries/NOAA
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