Types of corals

The corals are animals that do not movebelonging to the class Anthozoa. They are relatives of the jellyfish, but unlike them they lack the free life phase. They only remain in polyp phase attached to the ground and without ability to movebut despite this they have very interesting characteristics that adapt them effectively in their environment. All corals are colonialformed by hundreds of individual polyps that are responsible for feeding and reproducing the colony.

We recommend you read about colonial associations: what are, types and examples and the animals that do not move.

• Stone corals are the corals that They secrete a calcium carbonate skeletonwhich is why they are also known as True corals.
• In this skeleton the individual polyps that form the colonyresponsible for capturing food by moving the plankton with its tentacles into its mouth to carry out the digestion and taking of nutrients.
• In addition to this heterotrophic feeding path, much of the stone coral species have within their polyps Symbiotic zooxant algaewith which they exchange nutrients for mutual benefit. Those who possess this symbiotic relationship with these organisms obtain most of their nutrients from this route. Here you can learn more about zooxantlas: what are, symbiosis, life cycle and function.
• To defend yourself, Polyps can be retracted Toward your calcareous skeleton, which is like a cell that gives them refuge.
• When these corals die is the full skeleton, where you can see the cells of each polyp and the septa that make it up.
• These are the corals responsible for building the marine reefwhich is a stone formation that gives structure to the ecosystem. Here you can find information about what a coral reef is exactly.
• They can easily be confused with rocks, but it really is live animals.
• These coral reefs are very important for marine biodiversity, because They house 25% of marine species. They function as shelters and hatcheries of hundreds of species, having a very important value in marine productivity and wealth.

Types of stone or hard corals

Those of the subclass belong to the stone corals Hexacoralliacommonly called hexacoral. They are characterized because the polyps have symmetry of 6 sides, to be observed in the gastrovascular cavity divided into multiples of 6, in addition to the tentacles are in multiples of 6 and are completely smooth without ramifications. This subclass includes stony corals, zoantids, coralimorphs and anemones, but only stone corals are under the order Scleractinia.

There are other stone corals that are outside the hexacoral, under the subclass Octocorallia that includes soft corals, but have the capacity to produce a hard skeleton. Such are the order Helioporaceathe family TUBIPORIDAE of the Alcyonacea order, and the family Milleporidae of the Hydrozoa class.

• Soft corals They have no calcareous skeleton and from here that they are from Soft consistency.
• Around this soft tissue the lonely polyps that together form The colony.
• Inside the fabric they are willing Spiculeswhich are crystallized calcium carbonate structures in Calcita They give support and defense against predators. These spicules are very useful when identifying species, because there is a great variety in shapes and sizes.
• In addition to this physical defense, many species have chemical defense substances to secrete as a protection.
• These corals do not seem like rocks such as stony, but Remember plants more.
• Although They do not build marine reefs, they are part of them Giving structure to the reef, in addition to contributing to the wealth and ecosystem balance.
• They also get their food by Plankton capture With tentacles, and many species may have Symbiosis with zooxant.
• They can prosper better than stone corals under conditions with less light.

Soft coral types

Soft corals are inside the subclass Octocoralliawith polyps characterized by having 8 branched or pinnated tentacles, and a gastrovascular cavity divided into 8 septa. Under this class, orders containing soft corals are mainly Alcyonaceaexcept for the Tubipporidae family and Helioporacea order, and including soft corals to order Pennatulacealike sea feathers.

There is a special case that are Las Gorgoniasalso known as Sea fans. They belong to the Alcionaceos, so by phylogenetic origin they are soft, but they have a relatively hard corneal skeleton that is made of a protein called gorgonine that gives it a flexible but rigid consistency of a single axis. It is not properly rigid because it does not secret calcium carbonate skeleton, but it is not soft as its close relatives. According to the criterion, whether of phylogenetic origin, ability to form reef or due to tissue hardness, it can be classified as soft choral or stone coral. Given this, a new special category has been created to group them as Gorgonid corals. In this other article you can know the Gorgonia better: characteristics, habitat and food.

You already know the different types of corals better, so we now recommend you read this other article Aerca of soft corals: what are, characteristics, types and food.

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