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With growth rates of 0.3 to 2 centimeters per year for massive corals, and up to 10 centimeters per year for branching corals, it can take up to 10,000 years for a coral reef to form from a group of larvae (Barnes, 1987).lick the image to see an animation. Coral reefs begin to form when free-swimming coral larvae attach to submerged rocks or other hard surfaces along the edges of islands or continents. As the corals grow and expand, reefs take on one of three major characteristic structures fringing, barrier or atoll.
Different species of coral grow at different rates, depending on the water temperature, oxygen level, amount of turbulence, and availability of food around them. Most massive boulder corals are the slowest growing species, adding only between 1/4 to 7/8 inch (5 to 25 millimeters) per year to their length.he geological record indicates that the ancestors of modern coral reef ecosystems were formed at least 350 million years ago. The coral reefs existing today began growing as early as 50 million years ago. Most established coral reefs are between 5,000 and 10,000 years old.