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What are corals?

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When corals are mentioned, most people immediately think about clear, warm tropical seas and fish-filled reefs. In fact, the stony, shallow-water corals—the kind that build reefs—are only one type of coral. There are also soft corals and deep water corals that live in dark cold waters. Almost all corals are colonial organisms. read more

Coral are generally classified as either"hard coral" or"soft coral". There are around 800 known species of hard coral, also known as the 'reef building' corals. Soft corals, which include seas fans, sea feathers and sea whips, don't have the rock-like calcareous skeleton like the others, instead they grow wood-like cores for support and fleshy rinds for protection. read more

Most corals are made up of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of individual coral polyps like this one. Click the image for a detailed diagram and a description of a polyp's anatomy. When corals are mentioned, most people immediately think about clear, warm tropical seas and fish-filled reefs. read more

Corals are marine invertebrates in the class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria. They typically live in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. read more

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What Are the Different Coral Calcium Side Effects?
Source: wisegeek.com

Further Research

Are corals animals or plants?
oceanservice.noaa.gov

Coral Reefs and Climate Change
www.teachoceanscience.net

What Are Coral Reefs?
www.livescience.com

What are corals?
oceanservice.noaa.gov