In this Non-textbook of Oceanography, we look for fashion inspiration among coral reefs.
If the animals of the tropical seas were treated as modeling icons, and the structure of the reef as a catwalk,
we would get a phenomenal show designed to meet the needs of the natural environment.
The longest fashion runway is located off the north-east coast of Australia,
it is a stretch of over 2,000 km Great Barrier Reef.
The hallmark of this habitat are organisms that stand out with their unusual richness of colors and shapes.
In the coral reef gardens, corals catch the eye.
Reef-forming corals live in symbiosis with microscopic algae - zooxanthellae,
that produce food by photosynthesis.
There are corals whose polyps look like flowers sticking out of the bottom.
Zoanthus corals are colloquially known as "buttons",
they form dense clusters on the substrate, which they overgrow.
See for yourself what it looks like underwater.
Functional outfits made with the greatest attention to detail,
are the hallmark of the coral reef fashion houses.
Classic black and white is visible in the color of the garden eel.
This is a fish that resembles underwater thickets.
It spends its life building a tunnel, this tunnel is longer than the fish that inhabits it,
and the garden eel sticks its head in the direction from which the plankton flows.
In barbed fish, we find retractable blades at the base of the caudal fin,
and they are hidden in well-cut pockets.
Surgeon fish use such a scalpel for defense.
As it happens with fashion shows, not everything always goes according to plan.
Just look at that unruly hairstyle on Antennarius.
Of course, presence and a stable gait count on the catwalk.
Batfishes tread hard on the bottom of the Indian Ocean and in the warm zone of the Pacific Ocean.
To say of them that they "walk" is not too much of an exaggeration,
because they have pectoral fins transformed into paws with a clearly marked elbow.
It is thanks to such constructed limbs that they are able to walk on the bottom, move around it, like small tanks.
The coral reef shows take place day and night.
The same fish can present women's and men's fashion,
this is because some species can change sex.
In the Sea goldies for whom fashion shows are organized mainly on shipwrecks sunk on the reef,
predominantly take part females led by males.
When he is gone, then the strongest female is able to change sex and replace him in this role.
In the ribbon moray, which looks like a carnival serpentine,
adult male can change sex.
We may like coral reefs because of their aesthetic values.
However, let's remember that corals support life on the planet.
Let's take care of these underwater landscapes so that future generations can also admire them.
Water, water is the future...