A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony co
Brain coral spawning
Biodiversity in a coral reef
Fringing reef at Eilat at the southern tip of Israel
Scleractinia, also called stony corals or hard corals, are marine animals in the phylum Cnidaria that build themselves a hard skeleton. The individual animals are known as polyps and have a cylindrica
Coral reef
…characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Coral belongs to the class Anthozoa in the animal phylum Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike…
Diagram showing a coral polyp, its corallite, coenosarc and coenosteum
Diploria labyrinthiformis, a brain coral
Meandering corallite walls of an intratentacular budding coral