Each individual coral animal is known as a polyp and it lives in groups of hundreds to thousands ... Most corals contain algae called zooxanthellae — they are plant-like organisms — in their tissues.

But in response to prolonged heat stress, coral polyps expel their symbiotic zooxanthellae algae. They appear to do this to avoid further tissue damage from toxic reactive oxygen molecules which ...

Coral reefs are marine ecosystems characterized by their calcium carbonate structures, primarily built by coral polyps. These magnificent underwater ... the mutualistic relationships between corals ...

Corals are colonies of tiny polyps that eat plankton. They live in a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae algae, which feed on coral waste and carbon dioxide and provide the coral oxygen and ...

but most tropical corals only extend their polyps at night. Corals evolved to partner with zooxanthellae may have a competitive advantage over species with entirely independent feeding strategies.

Using their polyps, acan lord corals catch organic compounds and small marine organisms from their environment. They also have a special algae—called zooxanthellae– in their tissues that ...

It can grow to about six feet (or two meters) in size and is hard to miss. Coral polyps form a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae, a kind of algae, that lives within them. That’s where they get ...

A young hard coral with polyps. The small, brown flecks inside the coral are single-celled algae called zooxanthellae. (Katarina Damjanovic/AIMS) "It can't get repeatedly hammered like this. We are ...

Corals throughout the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean basins were so stressed they expelled the marine algae that lived in their tissue called zooxanthellae ... when their polyps are separated ...

Zooxanthellae photosynthesise and provide the coral polyps with nutrients, and also colour – hence their loss reveals the white reef-building substrate secreted by the coral colonies through their ...