The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez. It is underlain by the Red Sea Rift, which is part of the Great Rift Valley.
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.
Coral bleaching is the process when corals become white due to various stressors, such as changes in temperature, light, or nutrients. Bleaching occurs when coral polyps expel the zooxanthellae that live inside their tissue, causing the coral to turn white. The zooxanthellae are photosynthetic, and as the water temperature rises, they begin to produce reactive oxygen species. This is toxic to the coral, so the coral expels the zooxanthellae. Since the zooxanthellae produce the majority of coral colouration, the coral tissue becomes transparent, revealing the coral skeleton made of calcium carbonate. Most bleached corals appear bright white, but some are blue, yellow, or pink due to pigment proteins in the coral.
The Gulf of Bahrain is an inlet of the Persian Gulf on the east coast of Saudi Arabia, separated from the main body of water by the peninsula of Qatar. It surrounds the islands of Bahrain. The King Fahd Causeway crosses the western section of the Gulf of Bahrain, connecting Saudi Arabia to Bahrain.
Porites is a genus of stony coral; they are small polyp stony (SPS) corals. They are characterised by a finger-like morphology. Members of this genus have widely spaced calices, a well-developed wall reticulum and are bilaterally symmetrical. Porites, particularly Porites lutea, often form microatolls. Corals of the genus Porites also often serve as hosts for Christmas tree worms.
The Gulf of Salwah is the southern portion of the Gulf of Bahrain. The Gulf of Salwah is a narrow bay separating the peninsula of Qatar from Saudi Arabia. It is bordered to the west by a well-vegetated shoreland containing palm trees and reed beds. To the east are low cliffs and hills, with sand dunes and salt flats at the southern end.
Drupella cornus, common name : the horn drupe, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.
Drupella rugosa, common name : the rugose drupe, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.
Porites lobata, known by the common name lobe coral, is a species of stony coral in the family Poritidae. It is found growing on coral reefs in tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Porites compressa, also known as finger coral or hump coral, is a species of marine stony coral in the family Poritidae. It is found growing on coral reefs and in shallow lagoons in tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Colpophyllia is a genus of stony corals in the family Mussidae. It is monotypic with a single species, Colpophyllia natans, commonly known as boulder brain coral or large-grooved brain coral. It inhabits the slopes and tops of reefs, to a maximum depth of fifty metres. It is characterised by large, domed colonies, which may be up to two metres across, and by the meandering network of ridges and valleys on its surface. The ridges are usually brown with a single groove, and the valleys may be tan, green, or white and are uniform in width, typically 2 centimetres. The polyps only extend their tentacles at night.
Porites porites, commonly known as hump coral or finger coral, is a species of stony coral in the genus Porites. It is found in the Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic Ocean and also along the coast of West Africa.
Porites furcata, commonly known as hump coral, thin finger coral or branched finger coral, is a species of stony coral in the genus Porites. It is found in the Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic Ocean.
Acropora tenuis is a species of acroporid coral found in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the southwest, northwest and northern Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, the central Indo-Pacific, Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan, the East China Sea and the oceanic west and central Pacific Ocean. It occurs in tropical shallow reefs on upper slopes and in subtidal habitats, at depths of 8 to 20 metres.
A Mesophotic coral reef or mesophotic coral ecosystem (MCE), originally from the Latin word meso (meaning middle) and photic (meaning light), is characterised by the presence of both light-dependent coral and algae, and organisms that can be found in water with low light penetration. Mesophotic Coral Ecosystem (MCEs) is a new, widely-adopted term used to refer to mesophotic coral reefs, as opposed to other similar terms like "deep coral reef communities" and "twilight zone", since those terms sometimes are confused due to their unclear, interchangeable nature.
Orbicella faveolata, commonly known as mountainous star coral, is a colonial stony coral in the family Merulinidae. Orbicella faveolata is native to the coral coast of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and is listed as "endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. O. faveolata was formerly known as Montastraea faveolata.
The wildlife of Bahrain is the flora and fauna of the archipelago of Bahrain, and is more varied than might be expected of this small group of islands in the Persian Gulf. Apart from a strip of the north and west of the main island, where crops such as potatoes are grown with irrigation, the land is arid. With a very hot dry summer, a mild winter, and brackish groundwater, the plants need adaptations in order to survive. Nevertheless, 196 species of higher plant have been recorded here, as well as about seventeen species of terrestrial mammals, many birds and reptiles, and many migratory birds visit the islands in autumn and spring.
Elphinstone Reef is a standalone reef in the Egyptian Red Sea situated about 30 kilometers north from the town of Marsa Alam in Egypt. The coral community in this reef is primarily composed of soft corals such as Dendronephthya species.
Briareum is a genus of soft corals in the family Briareidae. The coral is cultivated by aquarium owners for its fluorescing polyps, which reveal themselves under actinic light. The genus is in need of extensive examination, as many specimens sold by marketers display unique and similar characteristics, but are often labeled as one species, Pachyclavularia violacea.
Porites lutea is a species of stony coral in the family Poritidae. It is found growing in very shallow water on reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. It sometimes forms "microatolls" in the intertidal zone and these massive structures have been used to study trends in sea levels and sea water temperature.
