> CORAL

. Corals are small, marine animals that remain in one place throughout their adult lives and produce a hard skeleton made of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), or limestone. The skeletal material, which can be either internal or external, is also called coral. After the coral animal dies, the skeleton remains. Many species of corals grow in colonies that continue to enlarge year after year. Other species are solitary; that is, they live alone. Collectively, several different species of corals can form enormous colonies that are called coral reefs, coral islands, and coral atolls. The largest coral reef in the world, the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Australia, is more than 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) long.

Corals exhibit many shapes, sizes, and colors, and reefs can look like beautiful underwater gardens. Some corals resemble the tendrils of plants; others look like leaves. The brain coral is nearly spherical and has furrows that make it look like a human brain. Sea fans are aptly named corals with flat, fan-shaped structures that spread out from a narrower base. The organ-pipe corals, which inhabit the tropical oceans of the Indo-Pacific, are typically long rigid tubes. The particular shapes and patterns of corals are characteristic for each species and are the result of the growth pattern of the millions of tiny individual animals that make up a colony. Corals can be very colorful underwater, but most species fade when they die or are removed from the water. The red coral, found in the Mediterranean Sea and in the coastal waters of Japan, does not lose its color when removed from the water, so it has been used in jewelry for centuries.

Reproduction

The adult coral, which is stationary in this stage of life, is called a polyp. Polyps reproduce in two different ways. One is by means of eggs that, when fertilized by sperm, develop into tiny, swimming larval organisms called planulae. Planulae eventually settle on the bottom of the ocean, on a rock, or on another coral and develop into polyps. Each polyp builds a limestone skeleton attached to the surface on which the polyp has landed. After the coral establishes itself, the upper part of the body becomes dome-shaped and develops a stomach and mouth. Tentacles form around the mouth and are used to draw in food from the surrounding waters. The tentacles are armed with specialized stinging structures, called nematocysts, that paralyze tiny prey. Small marine organisms are the major food of corals.

A polyp can also reproduce by a process known as budding, in which offshoots called buds grow out from the body and remain attached to it. The buds become polyps, which in turn send out more buds. In some kinds of corals the buds may break away to become separate individuals. The largest of the solitary polyps grows to a diameter of about 10 inches (25 centimeters). The polyps of the colonial species that form coral reefs range from 0.04 to 1.2 inches (0.1 to 3 centimeters) in diameter.

Vast coral colonies are built by budding, the animals being connected by their extensive skeletal network. Nutrients are passed from individuals on the outside of the colony to those on the inside.

Coral reefs

Corals live in all oceans of the world. The largest reefs are found in the warmer portions of the Pacific and Indian oceans. However, coral reefs are also found in the Caribbean and in the Gulf of Mexico as far north as southern Florida.

Reefs are composed of numerous different species of corals. More than 40 species form the large reefs of the West Indies and more than 350 species of coral have been found in the Great Barrier Reef. Corals that live in colder climates where waters fall below 70 F (21 C) for part of the year are solitary forms that do not form reefs.

Although some corals can live at depths of nearly 19,000 feet (6,000 meters), reef-building corals must live in relatively shallow ocean waters less than 300 feet (90 meters) in depth where light can penetrate. This is necessary because certain types of light-requiring algae known as dinoflagellates live within the tissues of the corals. The dinoflagellates are essential to the coral because the algae provide certain nutrients, particularly carbon. The algae, however, depend on the coral for nitrogen and phosphorus (see Algae).

There are three kinds of coral reefs barrier reefs, fringing reefs, and atolls. Barrier reefs lie parallel to the coastline but may be some distance from it. The reef and the land are separated by a shallow lagoon. The lagoon between the Great Barrier Reef and the northeastern coast of Australia varies from 10 to 100 miles (16 to 160 kilometers) in width. Most of a coral reef is submerged, but some parts may be above the ocean's surface forming small islands that may support vegetation and animal life.

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Fringing reefs also follow the coastline, but they extend up to the beach at some points. Atolls have no relationship to any visible land. They are circular in form, surrounding a central lagoon of calm water. Atolls are often associated with the rims of extinct underwater volcanoes. Bikini in the South Pacific is a well-known atoll that was used in nuclear weapons testing by the United States.

Coral reefs create underwater habitats that are essential for many species of marine organisms. Certain species of fish spend their life among the corals, using them as a refuge from predators.

Because of the permanence of their skeletons, corals are common in the fossil record, the remains of long-dead plants and animals. More than 6,000 extinct species of corals have been described. Corals belong to the phylum Coelenterata (also called Cnidaria) and are related to jellyfishes. Most species are in the class Anthozoa. The class has more than 6,000 living species, including the sea cucumbers, sea anemones, and sea pansies, which are not corals. A few corals are in the class Hydrozoa.

By the 1990s coral reefs off the coasts of more than 20 countries were being ravaged by coral bleaching, pollution, freighter traffic, and the venomous, coral-eating starfish known as the crown of thorns. Bleaching is thought to be caused by rising water temperatures, which the coral cannot withstand. Oil spills and chemical pollution are a major threat to coral. Long-term damage occurs when stands of coral are knocked down by freighters or boat anchors. Overharvesting of fish has resulted in the loss of coral-protecting sea urchins, leaving the coral open to the crown of thorns.

From: Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia