The high diversity of the fish communities in the coral reefs is maintained mainly by the complexity of these places, that provide different ways for fishes to feed, live and reproduce. As many as the species numbers are the different ways of hunting, feeding, hiding, reproducing and living. Some aspects of the ecology of this remarkable community are further discussed here. On this page you can find out more about marine insurance.

Visit wetpixel.com if you want to learn more about digital underwater photography. Or read our article about damage caused by optic cables on coral reef habitats.

Life Cycles

Most coral reef fishes have a pelagic (oceanic) larval stage resulting in a life history with two very different phases: the pelagic and benthic (or sedentary) stages. Of the approximately 100 families of bony fishes associated with coral reefs, only four plus a single species of a fifth family are known to lack a pelagic early life history.

After a range of 9 to over 100 days (depending on the species) in the pelagic stage, the fish find a reef to live, and suffer many modifications. This phasis is called “settlement”. Size at settlement ranges from about 8 to 200mm. After settlement the fish establish a relatively small home-range, with the majority spending the rest of its life (or the sedentary phase) on the same reef where they settled.

The importance of the pelagic stage is that it determines the geographical size of population units, since it is the only period when reef fish disperse for long distances.

Multifunction printers do the yeoman’s work of an office, replacing several expensive dedicated items. These invaluable devices might include a printer, a copier, a scanner, and a fax machine. They might be connected to a network of computers via Ethernet or USB, or they might take your camera’s flash memory card directly.

How Multifunction Printers Can Enhance Your Business
Each facet of these all in one office printers provides basic functionality; but they also contribute added value to the imaginative business.

The Printer
Desktop publish your business identity package. Using common software you can give your business a professional appearance with printed stationery letterheads, watermarked photographs, customized business cards, promotional brochures and envelopes.

The Fax
A good fax-capable machine can help you get the jump on the competition by allowing you to send materials instantly; from bidding sheets to sketches, forms, samples, and sometimes even marketing messages, the uses are only limited by your own industriousness. Furthermore you’ll have an additional channel of communication for other businesses and clients who wish to send faxes to you.

The Copier
From client records to backup accounting records, handout folios for pitches, a reliable copier soon makes itself indispensable to any working office. Whether you choose a colour laser printer or ink jet, should depend upon the quality requirements of your most common tasks – and how much you are willing to spend on replacement cartridges.

The Scanner
In this connected world images and print all need to be digitized; for archiving, emailing, telecommuting or collaborating with remote workers. Don’t allow the limitations of printed or pressed media to interfere with a smooth client experience in today’s wired world. Your business needs to be online.

With more commerce over the wire, it’s imperative for credible, reliable businesses to have the capabilities afforded by versatile, powerful machines like
multifunction printer. If you’re serious about profit, first get serious about your tools. At the affordable end of the expense range, a little investment here can yield untold dividends in opportunities for your business.

Business wise, Marine Insurance ( see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_insurance for more information.)is the same to a maritime company as Car Insurance is to a limousine company. The vessel is livelihood, and the livelihood must be preserved.

While they are conceptually the same, Car Insurance (www.realinsurance.com.au) and Marine Insurance differ in their specifics. For individual boat-owners, Marine Insurance comprises two broad categories: Liability Coverage, which insures the people on or operating the vessel, and Physical Damage coverage, which insures the vessel itself. This is a noticeable change from car insurance, which protects only the car, requiring the policy holder to purchase separate accident insurance policy to protect him/herself. Regarding physical damage coverage to vessels, the policy holder may decide on ‘agreed’ or ‘actual cash’ value. The actual cash value, the less expensive of the two, covers exactly what the ship is determined to be worth, factoring age and condition. Agreed value, more comprehensive, covers a predetermined value agreed upon between the holder and insurer.

These and countless other specific policies, such as “Towing and Assistance”, “Uninsured Boater”, and “Personal Property”, to name a few, are essential for the physical and mental security the conscientious, responsible boat owner, or any company that operates in a maritime setting.

The most striking feature of reef fish is their diversity, in terms of both species number and the range of morphologies. An estimated 4000 (18% of all living fishes) species of fish live on coral reefs and associated habitats of the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and this number increases as new exploratory surveys are done.

This high diversity is partly due to the fact that coral reefs provide a wide variety of habitats, each with its own set of characteristic species. Differences in the degree of proximity to the coast, exposure to wave action, currents, light levels, the amount of algae, plankton and other food, and the abundance, shape, and varieties of coral and other shelter combine to create a large variety of different places to be exploited. These places are occupied by random assemblages of a usually large number of species of fishes.

Corals only grow a few inches a year in ideal environments and take hundreds of years to form the beautiful reefs we have today. They play to host to hundreds of unique fish and other marine life. Already extremely sensitive to any sort of climate change the residents of coral reefs are now dealing with an added threat of swaying cables. The lightweight cables sway back and forth against the reef with the water currents. This often results in dislocating delicate inhabitants such as coral sponges.

Although fiber optic cables do cause damage to the coral reefs it has yet to be proved they are more harmful than other events that take place. Hurricanes and ship groundings are just two other common occurrences that cause damage to these reefs. Companies are now finding ways to lessen their carbon footprint on the reefs by laying cables in the coral gaps or even relocating corals that may be at risk. With the communication companies working hard with environmentalists this issue may find a resolution that benefits everyone involved.