The reefs scattered throughout the tropics arose only after algae took up full-time residence in coral cells, supplying corals with abundant food and enabling them to build extensive shallow-water ...

A study led by the University of Bremen suggests that on algae-dominated coral reefs, it is not the algae but the corals themselves that may contribute to the growth of harmful bacteria. This ...

An international team of marine scientists has identified and officially named four species of algae new to science, challenging previous taxonomical assumptions within the Porolithon genus. The ...

These days, long-spined sea urchins are known as the gardeners of the sea. They tend the algae on the coral reefs they call home, making sure it never overwhelms their hosts. Spotting one on the ...

Coral larvae are picky about where they attach and settle down. One of the ways they decide is by “smelling” chemicals in the water that are associated with healthy reefs. Now, researchers at UC San ...

With El Niño conditions emerging in 2026, coral reefs may once again face the threat of widespread bleaching as ocean ...

Research published this month in the journal PNAS suggests that microscopic algae are helping reefs in the eastern tropical Pacific survive in a warming ocean. This is good news given that coral reefs ...

Roughly 84% of the world’s coral reef area has now been exposed to heat stress severe enough to trigger mass bleaching, the ...

Coral reefs are both beautiful and utterly vital to the ocean ecosystem and the local environment. They provide homes, food and breeding sites for millions of marine plants and animals, including the ...

After two years of record-breaking ocean heat, scientists are assessing the impacts of the world’s fourth mass bleaching event on coral reefs around the globe. At least 74 countries and territories ...