The Other Types of Species

There are many other types of species in a coral reef, but all of them can be put under two categories: r-selected and k-selected species. R-selected species are those who produce a large number of offspring for better survival chances, do not have maternal care for the young produced, and have short growth periods and life-spans. One example of an r-selected species living in a coral reef would be, as a matter of fact, coral. Coral is actually very small organisms called coral polyps that reproduce many thousands of other polyps per year to form a colony. They can either do this sexually or asexually. When they die, they leave their calcium carbonate shell so that more coral polyps can form on top of them.

On the contrary, a k-selected species generally has a long lifespan, have longer maturation rates, reproduce less, and care for their young (humans are a k-selected species). On a coral reef, a dolphin is a k-selected species because they have a very long lifespan (40-50 years), care for their young, have a longer maturation period, and produce fewer offspring. They are migrant within a coral reef (venture in and out); the majority of species living in a coral reef are r-selected species.