Editing Coral reef (section)

===Skeleton===
[[File:FFS Table bottom.jpg|thumb|left|Table coral, ''[[Acropora]] sp.'']]

Reefs grow as polyps and other organisms deposit calcium carbonate,<ref>{{cite web |vauthors=Stacy J, Marion G, McCulloch M, Hoegh-Guldberg O |title=Long-term changes to Mackay Whitsunday water quality and connectivity between terrestrial, mangrove and coral reef ecosystems: Clues from coral proxies and remote sensing records |series=Synthesis of research from an ARC Linkage Grant (2004–2007) |url-status=dead |publisher=University of Queensland |department=Centre for Marine Studies |date=May 2007 |url=http://www.marine.uq.edu.au/mackayarc/Reports%20&%20publications/Mackay_ARC_2007_lowres.pdf |access-date=7 June 2009 |archive-date=August 30, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830013615/http://marine.uq.edu.au/mackayarc/Reports%20%26%20publications/Mackay_ARC_2007_lowres.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last=Nothdurft |first=Luke D. |url=https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16690/1/Luke_D._Nothdurft_Thesis.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110309095832/https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16690/1/Luke_D._Nothdurft_Thesis.pdf |archive-date=2011-03-09 |url-status=live |title=Microstructure and early diagenesis of recent reef building scleractinian corals, Heron reef, Great Barrier Reef: implications for paleoclimate analysis |publisher=Queensland University of Technology |degree=Ph.D. |date=2007 |publication-date=2008 |access-date=2022-11-10 |via=}} [https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16690/ Via QUT ePrints] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111063847/https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16690/ |date=11 November 2022 }}</ref> the basis of coral, as a skeletal structure beneath and around themselves, pushing the coral head's top upwards and outwards.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |vauthors=Wilson RA |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/biology-individual/ |article=The Biological Notion of Individual |title=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |date=9 August 2007 |access-date=7 June 2009}}</ref> Waves, grazing fish (such as [[parrotfish]]), [[sea urchin]]s, [[sea sponge|sponges]] and other forces and organisms act as [[Bioerosion|bioeroders]], breaking down coral skeletons into fragments that settle into spaces in the reef structure or form sandy bottoms in associated reef lagoons.

Typical shapes for coral [[species]] are named by their resemblance to terrestrial objects such as [[Brain coral|wrinkled brains]], cabbages, [[Acropora|table tops]], [[Staghorn coral|antlers]], wire strands and [[Pillar coral|pillars]]. These shapes can depend on the life history of the coral, like light exposure and wave action,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Chappell |first=John |title=Coral morphology, diversity and reef growth |journal=Nature |date=17 July 1980 |volume=286 |issue=5770 |pages=249–252 |doi=10.1038/286249a0 |bibcode=1980Natur.286..249C |s2cid=4347930 }}</ref> and events such as breakages.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jackson |first=Jeremy B. C. |title=Adaptation and Diversity of Reef Corals |journal=BioScience |date=1 July 1991 |volume=41 |issue=7 |pages=475–482 |doi=10.2307/1311805 |jstor=1311805}}</ref>
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