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What Are Corals? Corals Tutorial

oceanservice.noaa.gov · 701 words · saved by 1 readers

A small lock or https:// means you’ve safely connected to a .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. When corals are mentioned, most people think about clear, warm tropical seas and reefs filled with colorful fish. In fact, stony, shallow-water corals — the kind that build reefs — are only one type of coral. There are also soft corals and deep water corals that live in dark cold waters. Almost all corals are colonial organisms. This means that they are composed of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of individual animals, called polyps. Each polyp has a stomach that opens at only one end. This opening, called the mouth, is surrounded by a circle of tentacles. The polyp uses these tentacles for defense, to capture small animals for food, and to clear away debris. Food enters the stomach through the mouth. After the food is consumed, waste products are expelled through the same opening. Most corals feed at night. To capture their food, corals use stingin

Corals Tutorial: What are corals? --> What are corals? --> Coral make up some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. Thousands of species rely on corals and the reefs they form for survival. Millions of people all over the world also depend on coral reefs for food, protection, and jobs. Most corals are made up of hundreds of thousands individual polyps like this one. View a detailed diagram and a description of a polyp's anatomy. Most of the time, a coral is made up of individual animals called polyps. Each polyp has a stomach that opens at only one end. This opening, called the mouth, i

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