Among the myriad creatures that populate our ocean, some stand out as having an outsized impact on the marine ...

Crucial to coral health are colorful algae called zooxanthellae. These algae live in coral polyps, providing coral with its bright color. The zooxanthellae photosynthesize and pass the products to ...

These algae manufacture sugars and share them with their coral hosts. "Each coral colony has thousands of polyps, and their brown color is from the algae. Whenever you see coral bleaching ...

When Palacio and her team examined coral reefs after the 2015–2016 heat wave, they found that particular corals called ...

The connection between polyps allows for the sharing ... for sessile organisms to attach, including algae, sponges, and non-reef building corals (e.g., fire corals, soft corals, gorgonians).

These impressive creatures can grow up to 4.5 feet in length and weigh over 700 pounds, making them icons of tropical coral reefs. But these animals don’t bulk up on a high-protein diet. Instead, they ...

Corals rely on algae for nutrition, so once the algae has gone, this weakens the coral polyp and if the algae doesn’t return to the polyp, the coral will eventually die. Recovery is possible in some ...

Each polyp has a mouth surrounded by tentacles ... Together with coralline algae and other groups that produce limestone skeletons, corals gradually build up the complex three-dimensional structure of ...

This coral species, known as acropora hemprichii, grows in the shallow reefs of the Maldives in tapered branches which ...

Polyps grow slowly, forming different shapes and sizes depending on their species. Assisted by other animals with calcium carbonate skeletons and also coralline algae, corals form complex, ...