Corals are found all over the ocean, from deep, cold waters to shallow, tropical.
The red or pink twig of the coral is so beautiful that it makes jewelry and various crafts. Coral is really like the escape of some exotic tree, but it is not a plant, but a skeleton of a small marine animal – a polyp.
Marine polyps (or corals) live in colonies in the tropical seas. They are even found in the Mediterranean. Live polyps-corals develop on the skeletons of dead corals. As a result, multi-ton reefs or atolls are formed, which are the most in the Pacific Ocean. It is surprising that these small creatures, feeding on plankton alone, are able to leave behind such wonderful and impressive creations as coral reefs.
At first glance at corals, it is difficult to understand what kind of organisms and organisms it is. In fact, in a natural environment, corals resemble trees or shrubs, and dragged from the water become similar to precious stones, because no wonder they make jewelry. In fact, corals are animals, or rather colonies of the smallest organisms – coral polyps. In the world, there are almost 5,000 species of coral polyps, of which about 3,500 are actually called “corals.” Some representatives of coral polyps, for example, actinium, traditionally do not call corals, although they are closely related to corals “real”.
