Corals are Wonders of Nature

Corals are the most amazing wonders of the nature. They come in variety of shapes and sizes and they are the flowers and rain-forest of the sea. And people always ask if corals are animals or plants. More amazingly they are quite both if you consider algae as plant, but infact they are animal. The algae that gives the coral its colors and provides food for the animal coral, is called a zooxanthellae. The zooxanthellae gains protection and nutrients in return. this relationship is an example of symbiosis.
Corals generally feed at night using their tentacles to capture food. Their bodies are connected so they share their food.

Corals may be both female, male or both and they can reproduce sexually or asexually. Asexual reproduction often occurs involuntarily where several parts of a fractured colony can form new colonies. Corals reproduce sexually once or twice a year, in mass spawning events. Below are some examples of corals.



Platygyra lamellina



Stylophora pistillata



Acropora humilis



Acropora gemmifera



Plerogyra sinousa