Image 7-10
Finger Coral Forest

This image of a large colony of finger coral was captured by NOAA photographer David Burdick in the waters of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The nooks and crannies formed by the coral provides protection for a large group of Blue-green chromis (Chromis viridis). The Blue-green chromis is a species of damselfish that is found throughout the Red Sea and Indo-Pacific ocean region. Without the environment of the coral reef, fish species like this would not survive predation.