CORDIO Status Report 1999  01 December 1999 | Downloads -
publication  This report provides timely and important
information on the extent of coral mortality throughout the
Indian Ocean.  Corals as organisms and coral reefs as structures
and ecosystems have fascinated scientists for centuries. Charles
Darwin became well-known among natural scientists long before
the publication of The Origin of Species, partly because of his
studies of coral reefs and coral islands. Undoubtedly, this
fascination for coral reefs is a direct result of the tremendous
diversity of species, exemplified by the overwhelming number of
fish of all shapes and colours, that inhabit the world’s richest
marine ecosystem.  Fundamental to the existence of coral reefs
is the symbiosis between the reef-building coral polyp and the
algae, known as zooxanthellae, that resides within the tissue of
the polyp. From an ecological point of view, coral reefs provide
opportunities to observe interactions, such as predation,
competition and synergism,