Brain CoralBrain Coral is a common name given to several genera of coral, which are characterized by the spheroid shape of their colonies and by the grooves and channels on their surface, which resemble the folds on the surface of the human brain. Brain coral is in the taxonomic family Faviidae, but not every genus in the family is brain-shaped.
Brain corals are found in warm-water coral reefs in all the world's oceans. They are in a class called "sea flowers", also known as Anthozoa or scientifically, Phylum Cnidaria.
The life span of the largest brain corals is 200 years.
Whip Coral (Eptogorgia Virgulata)
Whip coral has slender, whip-like branches that vary in color from deep purple to yellowish-tan. The long, tough branches are covered in coral polyps, which look like tiny white dots against the coral's skeleton.
Whip coral can grow to about three feet tall and grows on rocks, reefs, pilings and other hard surfaces.
Whip corals are suspension feeders. Each of the polyps covering the coral's skeleton has eight feathery, saw-toothed tentacles that periodically emerge to sweep plankton and tiny particles into the coral's body.
Star Coral (Galaxea fascicularis)
The star coral is one of the hard coral species that contains a stone-like calcium skeleton. Small, oval
stubs rise from the yellowish-tan central core, each containing a delicate while star-shaped polyp. The Star Coral is commonly found throughout the Caribbean and the West Indies, and usually grows to about 12 inches in height.
Elkhorn Coral
Elkhorn coral is a large, branching shallow water coral with thick and sturdy antler-like branches. Colonies are fast-growing: branches increased by 2-4 inches (5-10 cm) per year, with colonies reaching their maximum size in approximately 10 to 12 years.
Yellow tube sponges (Aplysina Fistularia)
The yellow tube sponge displays one of the many different body forms typical of sponges. Sponges, considered to be the most primitive of the multi-cellular animals, are represented in the fossil record going back to the Cambrian Period, at least 600 million years ago. The interior body cavities of sponges provide shelter for a variety of small crabs, sea stars, and other marine invertebrates.
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