CORALS:
  • Corlas are marine invertebrates, belongs to the class of Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria.
  • They typically live in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps.
  • these are the building blocks of coral reefs.
  • living in tropical oceans and secretes Calcium carbonate to form hard skeleton.
  • coral group is a colony a coral group is a colony of genitically identical polyps.
  • a set of tentacles surround a central mouth opening.
  • Exoskeleton is secreted near the base.
  • Some corals are able to catch small fish and plankton using stinging cells on their tentacles.
  • Most corals obtaining energy or nutrients from photosynthetic unicellular dienoflagellates. 
  • Corals are the major contributors of the formation of coral reefs.