Coral Reef Word Search

About this puzzle

A coral reef looks like rock, but it is built by living animals. This list covers the builders (coral, polyp), the residents (parrotfish, grouper, moray eel, barracuda, anemone, sponge), the drifting food at the bottom of the food chain (plankton, algae) and the landforms reefs create (lagoon, atoll, shallows). SNORKEL is the one human word in the list — it is how most people get to see a reef for themselves.

The default layout is Medium on a 13×13 grid. Easy, Medium and Hard each use their own checked layout of the same words, and every one can be printed in standard or large print on US Letter or A4.

Word notes

Coral

Reef-building corals live in partnership with tiny algae inside their tissues, which provide much of their food and color.

Anemone

A soft-bodied relative of corals and jellyfish that catches food with stinging tentacles; clownfish shelter among them.

Polyp

The small soft-bodied animal that builds coral skeletons.

Parrotfish

Grazes on algae and grinds coral into fine sand.

Sponge

One of the simplest animals, feeding by filtering water pumped through tiny pores in its body.

Atoll

A ring-shaped reef or island around a lagoon.

Moray Eel

A long, snake-like fish that hides in reef crevices; it opens and closes its mouth to pass water over its gills.

Try this after the puzzle

Draw a simple food chain using the words: plankton and algae at the bottom, small fish next, then a predator such as the barracuda or grouper. Talk about what would happen to the chain if the coral disappeared. It is a natural lead-in to discussing why reefs are protected.

All 14 words

Coral · Anemone · Polyp · Lagoon · Parrotfish · Sponge · Plankton · Atoll · Algae · Grouper · Moray Eel · Snorkel · Shallows · Barracuda