KOMPAS.com – Coral or coral is a group of small animals called polyps. Coral habitat is in shallow water.
If the sea water is clear, we can see coral reefs from the surface without having to dive.
Coral live in groups or alone. Corals that live in groups form limestone skeletons of various shapes. Corals that live alone, only form one form of limestone skeleton.
Physical characteristics coral
Quoted from seaworld.orgthe physical characteristics possessed by corals are as follows:
Body shape
On corals there are tube -shaped polyps like sacs with in the middle of the mouth surrounded by tentacles.
Polyps function as both mouth and anus. Polyps feed on plankton carried by ocean currents. The tip of the polyp is called a corallite.
Polyps absorb calcium carbonate from seawater and excrete it in the form of a calcareous structure and form a skeleton. The limestone or corallite framework serves to support the polyp and protect its soft body parts.
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Size
The size of the coral varies depending on the species. Some corals are only a few millimeters to a few centimeters in diameter. Mushroom Coral is the largest coral with a diameter of up to 25 centimeters.
Polyp colonies on corals average about 1 to 3 millimeters in diameter. Coral colonies also vary in size. Some are small and some reach several meters.
Color
Coral natural pigments produce white, red, yellow, green, blue and purple colors. Algae that grows around the coral, makes the coral look brown, green, or orange.
Tentacle
Corals have tentacles at the tip of the mouth of the polyp. The number of tentacles on coral is 6 or 8, depending on the subclass. These tentacles function to catch food.
The tentacles at the tip of the polyp have nematodes. Nematosis is a spherical structure, double-walled and folded with spines at the end that contain poison. Poison is useful for immobilizing their prey.
Habitat
Corals and coral reefs live in shallow seas in tropical and subtropical regions. The boundary of the coral area can grow latitude, which is between 32º North Latitude and 32º South Latitude.
Reef-building corals thrive best in areas with little sedimentation and waters that are not affected by cold currents from the South Pole.
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Quoted from Introduction to Coral Reefs: As The Main Foundation of Our Oceans (2019) by Nabil Zurba, corals are generally classified into two types, namely:
Soft coral (soft coral)
Soft coral or soft coral is a group of corals that cannot precipitate calcium carbonate, so they cannot form limestone skeletons and reefs.
The soft skeleton has characteristics, including soft structure, waving when swept around it, regular corallites, polyps protruding and has eight tentacles.
Hard coral (hard coral)
Hard coral is a group of corals that can form limestone skeletons from calcium carbonate. The limestone skeleton will be deposited under the polyp and form a reef.
hard coral has characteristics, such as a hard structure that stands out, does not move, has a rough surface like sand paper, regular corallite. Tentacles on hard coral polyps, more than 8 in number and usually 24 in number.
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Reference:
- Suharsono. 2008. Types of Coral in Indonesia. Jakarta: LIPI Press
- Zurba, Nabil. 2019. Introduction of Coral Reefs: As the Main Foundation of Our Oceans. Lhokseumawe: Unimal Press
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