Corals

Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within

the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They
typically form compact colonies of many identical
individual polyps. Coral species include the
important reef builders that inhabit tropical
oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a
hard skeleton.
A coral "group" is a colony of very many
genetically identical polyps. Each polyp is a sac-
like animal typically only a few millimeters in
diameter and a few centimeters in height. A set
of tentacles surround a central mouth opening.
Each polyp excretes an exoskeleton near the
base. Over many generations, the colony thus
creates a skeleton characteristic of the species
which can measure up to several meters in size.
Individual colonies grow by asexual reproduction
of polyps. Corals also breed sexually by
spawning: polyps of the same species release
gametes simultaneously overnight, often around
a full moon. Fertilized eggs form planulae, a
mobile early form of the coral polyp which, when
mature, settles to form a new colony.
Although some corals are able to catch plankton
and small fish using stinging cells on their
tentacles, most corals obtain the majority of their
energy and nutrients from photosynthetic
unicellular dinoflagellates of the genus
Symbiodinium that live within their tissues. These
are commonly known as zooxanthellae and give
the coral color. Such corals require sunlight and
grow in clear, shallow water, typically at depths
less than 60 metres (200 feet; 33 fathoms), but
corals in the genus Leptoseris has been found as
deep as 172 metres (564 feet; 94 fathoms).

Corals are major contributors to the physical

structure of the coral reefs that develop in
tropical and subtropical waters, such as the Great
Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. These
corals are increasingly at risk of bleaching events
where polyps expel the zooxanthellae in response
to stress such as high water temperature or
toxins.
Other corals do not rely on zooxanthellae and can
live globally in much deeper water, such as the
cold-water genus Lophelia which can survive as
deep as 3,300 metres (10,800 feet; 1,800
fathoms).[2] Some have been found as far north
as the Darwin Mounds, northwest of Cape Wrath,
Scotland, and others off the coast of Washington
state and the Aleutian Islands.
Taxonomy
Corals are classified as species of animals within
the sub-classes Hexacorallia and Octocorallia of
the class Anthozoa in the phylum Cnidaria.[8]
Hexacorallia includes the stony corals and these
groups have polyps that generally have a 6-fold
symmetry. Octocorallia includes blue coral and
soft corals and species of Octocorallia have
polyps with an eightfold symmetry, each polyp
having eight tentacles and eight mesenteries.
The group of corals is paraphyletic because the
sea anemones are also in the sub-class
Hexacorallia.

Systematics
The delineation of coral species is challenging as
hypotheses based on morphological traits
contradict hypotheses formed via molecular tree-
based processes.[9] As of 2020, there are 2175
identified separate coral species, 237 of which
are currently endangered,[10] making
distinguishing corals to be the utmost of
importance in efforts to curb extinction.[9]
Adaptation and delineation continues to occur in
species of coral[11] in order to combat the
dangers posed by the climate crisis. Corals are
colonial modular organisms formed by asexually
produced and genetically identical modules
called polyps. Polyps are connected by living
tissue to produce the full organism.[12] The living
tissue allows for inter module communication
(interaction between each polyp),[12] which
appears in colony morphologies produced by
corals, and is one of the main identifying
characteristics for a species of coral.
There are two main classifications for corals: hard
coral (scleractinian and stony coral)[13] which
form reefs by a calcium carbonate base, with
polyps that bear six stiff tentacles,[14] and soft
coral (Alcyonacea and ahermatypic coral)[13]
which are pliable and formed by a colony of
polyps with eight feather-like tentacles.[14]
These two classifications arose from
differentiation in gene expressions in their branch
tips[12] and bases that arose through
developmental signaling pathways such as Hox,
Hedgehog, Wnt, BMP,

Scientists typically select Acropora as research

models since they are the most diverse genus of
hard coral, having over 120 species.[12] Most
species within this genus have polyps which are
dimorphic:[15] axial polyps grow rapidly and
have lighter coloration, while radial polyps are
small and are darker in coloration.[12][16] In the
Acropora genus, gamete synthesis and
photosynthesis occur at the basal[17] polyps,
growth occurs mainly at the radial polyps. Growth
at the site of the radial polyps encompasses two
processes: asexual reproduction via mitotic cell
proliferation,[12] and skeleton deposition of the
calcium carbonate via extra cellular matrix (EMC)
proteins acting as differentially expressed (DE)
signaling genes[12] between both branch tips
and bases. These processes lead to colony
differentiation, which is the most accurate
distinguisher between coral species.[9] In the
Acropora genus, colony differentiation through
up-regulation and down-regulation of Des.
Systematic studies of soft coral species have
faced challenges due to a lack of taxonomic
knowledge.[9] Researchers have not found
enough variability within the genus to confidently
delineate similar species, due to a low rate in
mutation of mitochondrial DNA.

Anatomy
For most of their life corals are sessile animals of
colonies of genetically identical polyps. Each
polyp varies from millimeters to centimeters in
diameter, and colonies can be formed from many
millions of individual polyps. Stony coral, also
known as hard coral, polyps produce a skeleton
composed of calcium carbonate to strengthen
and protect the organism. This is deposited by
the polyps and by the coenosarc, the living tissue
that connects them. The polyps sit in cup-shaped
depressions in the skeleton known as corallites.
Colonies of stony coral are markedly variable in
appearance; a single species may adopt an
encrusting, plate-like, bushy, columnar or
massive solid structure, the various forms often
being linked to different types of habitat, with
variations in light level and water movement
being significant.[21]

The body of the polyp may be roughly compared

in a structure to a sac, the wall of which is
composed of two layers of cells. The outer layer
is known technically as the ectoderm, the inner
layer as the endoderm. Between ectoderm and
endoderm is a supporting layer of gelatinous
substance termed mesoglea, secreted by the cell
layers of the body wall.[22] The mesoglea can
contain skeletal elements derived from cells
migrated from the ectoderm.

The sac-like body built up in this way is attached

to a hard surface, which in hard corals are cup-
shaped depressions in the skeleton known as
corallites. At the center of the upper end of the
sac lies the only opening called the mouth,
surrounded by a circle of tentacles which
resemble glove fingers. The tentacles are organs
which serve both for tactile sense and for the
capture of food.[22] Polyps extend their
tentacles, particularly at night, often containing
coiled stinging cells (cnidocytes) which pierce,
poison and firmly hold living prey paralyzing or
killing them. Polyp prey includes plankton such as
copepods and fish larvae. Longitudinal muscular
fibers formed from the cells of the ectoderm
allow tentacles to contract to convey the food to
the mouth. Similarly, circularly disposed
muscular fibres formed from the endoderm
permit tentacles to be protracted or thrust out
once they are contracted.[22] In both stony and
soft corals, the polyps can be retracted by
contracting muscle fibres, with stony corals
relying on their hard skeleton and cnidocytes for
defense. Soft corals generally secrete terpenoid
toxins to ward off predators.[21]

In most corals, the tentacles are retracted by day

and spread out at night to catch plankton and
other small organisms. Shallow-water species of
both stony and soft corals can be zooxanthellate,
the corals supplementing their plankton diet with
the products of photosynthesis produced by
these symbionts.[21] The polyps interconnect by
a complex and well-developed system of
gastrovascular canals, allowing significant
sharing of nutrients and symbionts.[23]

The external form of the polyp varies greatly. The

column may be long and slender, or may be so
short in the axial direction that the body
becomes disk-like. The tentacles may number
many hundreds or may be very few, in rare cases
only one or two. They may be simple and
unbranched, or feathery in pattern. The mouth
may be level with the surface of the peristome,
or may be projecting and trumpet-shaped.

There are two main types of corals 1) Stony

Corals and 2) Soft Corals.
1) Stony (Hard) Corals:
Some stony corals obtain their food from one-
celled organisms called zooxanthellae.
Zooxanthellae are single-celled organisms that
use sunlight for photosynthesis
and transfer 95% of the food they produce to
coral polyps. Both coral and the
zooxanthellae benefi t from this association. The
zooxanthellae receive protection
from currents and herbivores, as well as some
nutrients from waste produced by
coral polyps. This kind of association - where two
different kinds of organisms
benefi t from each other - is called a mutualistic
association. These corals are called
hermatypic corals. Individuals polyps of
hermatypic corals secrete calcium carbonate
(limestone) skeletons which, in time form coral
reefs. Therefore, hermatypic corals
are also known as reef building corals.
Because of this association with zooxanthellae
that need sunlight to produce food,
hermatypic corals are dependent on sunlight and
only grow in clear shallow waters less
than 60m deep, which have a temperature range
between 25° and 30°C. Hermatypic
corals prefer narrow salinity and low turbidity
ranges. Therefore, hermatypic corals need
a) a particular range of temperature;
b) sunlight;
c) generally clear water (low turbidity); and
d) a narrow range of salinity (Allen & Steene,
1994).
There are about 845 species of reef-building
corals (Global Marine Species
Assessment, 2008).
There also are some stony corals which do not
have zooxanthellae and do not build reefs.
These are called ahermatypic corals and can live
in both shallow and deep water (some up
to 6,000m deep).
Stony corals have different shapes and forms.
Massive
Columnar
 Encrusting
Tabular
Foliaceous (forming a whorl)
Branching
Digilate (like fingers)
Mushroom
Soft corals: Soft corals have no solid exoskeleton
as such. However, their tissues are often
reinforced by small supportive elements known
as sclerites made of calcium carbonate. The
polyps of soft corals have eight-fold symmetry,
which is reflected in the Octo in Octocorallia.[24]

Soft corals vary considerably in form, and most

are colonial. A few soft corals are stolonate, but
the polyps of most are connected by sheets of
tissue called coenosarc, and in some species
these sheets are thick and the polyps deeply
embedded in them. Some soft corals encrust
other sea objects or form lobes. Others are tree-
like or whip-like and have a central axial skeleton
embedded at their base in the matrix of the
supporting branch.[25] These branches are
composed of a fibrous protein called gorgonin or
of a calcified material.