Coral
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| Coral |
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| Scientific Classification |
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Subclass Alcyonaria (Octocorallia = eight tentacles)
Subclass Zoantharia (Hexacorallia = more than 8 tentacles)
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Coral is an animal belonging to the phylum Cnidaria, and the class is Anthozoa. They were made on the fifth day of creation along with all other aquatic organisms. Corals are known mainly as reef-builders, which provide habitats for a variety of other marine organism. There are two general types of corals known as hard and soft. The soft corals are made largely of a protein and calcium carbonate material, whereas the hard corals are made of stony calcium carbonate only without the protein. Examples of hard corals include: brain coral, star coral, staghorn coral, elkhorn coral, and pillar coral. The soft corals are not typically perceived as corals including the sea fans, sea whips, sea rods. The main difference between them is that the hard corals have an exoskeleton, while the soft corals lack the exoskeleton. [1]
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Anatomy
Corals have all the different types some accordingly simpler than others. For capturing its food, it uses nematocyst, which is inside the mesentary filaments of the polyp Corals are made of tiny organisms called polyps. The two cell layers that make up a polyp are called epidermis and gastrodermis. Mesoglea is the tissue layer in between the both of them. The Corallite is attached to skeleton and deposited by one of thee polyps. The Coral tissue that stretches atop the ground of coral in between polyps is the coenosarc. The name of the skeleton is the corallum. Calcareous usually know, as septa is a plate-like structure. The septa emit from the wall to the middle of the Corallite. The two versions of septa are insert septa and exert septa. The insert septum is positioned right below the Corallite wall. The exert septa is the opposite of the insert, which therefore makes it above the Corallite wall.
The two general types of coral known as imperforate and perforate. The imperforate coral's skeletons are solid where as the perforate coral's skeletons are more flexible or not as solid compared to the imperforate.
Corals have their single mouth and only exist in the polyp form, unlike many other cnidarians. The shape of the polyp is described as radially symmetrical. The mouth is surrounded by a whirl the tentacles.[2]
Reproduction
The corals can demonstrate either sexual or asexual reproduction. The Corals way of expanding its population is by budding although it may differ from when the new bud forms from the discs of the past polyp. Diploria is when the new polyp forms form the base of the old polyp. Fragmentation is the most common ways of the corals asexual reproduction. If it is a broken off piece it can resemble itself or just regroup as in start over from what its got left kind of like the star fish. In Acropora Cervicornis, it is common for it to brake off and start a new group of coral and is not unusual at all. All the corals usually release their sperm at the same time as the rest. Some they release in a sack of egg and sperm or just the sperm. At the surface is where the fertilization takes place from already floating there. The Zygote develops into larvae called planula and attaches itself to a one that fits it and starts it own population again. The sperm fertilizes the egg before it is released out into the open. [3]
Ecology
The corals are different depending on what kind of habitat they live one them for example is hawai'i compared to the ones in the tropics. The Hawai'i corals are young, small, and close to shore. As they begin to grow, they are known as fringing reefs and then barrier reefs. The corals are usually not the best in nutrients and lack of filter feeding animals for the other corals or sponges. The reefs in hawai’i are dominated by corals. There is not as many different species of corals in hawai'i as there are in the pacific. (Hawaii=40-Pacific=300) The one way that all the corals differ is from how far out they are from shore and how deep. The most important things are though is sedimentation, salinity, temperature. The main altering factor for the coral is its wave exposure. [4]
Gallery
 Coral in Belize |
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 Fossil coral on display at the House of the Volcano, Reunion Island. |
 Coral Sea Great Barrier Reef |
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 Location - Tarawa, Kiribati. |
Related References
See Also
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