Guardian: A coral reef is a busy neighbourhood. In warm, shallow, tropical waters, clownfish mill among sea anemones; sponges and seaweeds jostle against each other; crabs and snapping shrimps lurk defensively amid the knobbly branches.It's a cornucopia of life. "About a third of all marine diversity sits in coral reefs," says Professor Jörg Wiedenmann, head of the Coral Reef Laboratory at the University of Southampton.
At the heart of the reef's ecosystem are coral polyps soft-bodied animals related...