
coral reef
A mound or ridge of living coral, typically found in warm, shallow sea waters and rising to or near the surface. Coral reefs provide a critical habitat for a wide variety of fish and marine invertebrates, and protect shores against erosion by causing large waves to break and lose some of their force before reaching land.
Synonym:
coral reefs
Citation:
Adapted from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/coral+reef
English
Coral Reef
By Toby Hudson [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coral_Outcrop_Flynn_Reef.jpg