1. Plant, Animal or Rock?
Coral must catch and eat other organisms for food
Corals can eat food and release waste
Corals have digestive tissue
Corals cannot photosynthesize
Corals do not have stems, roots or leaves

2. What You Should Know About Corals
They are animals
Plants live inside of them
Two kinds
Soft corals
Hard corals (reef builders)
They are made of tiny polyps (which look like upside-down jellyfish)

3. Hard Corals Polyps build hard limestone cups around their bases
The cups cement together to make a coral colony
Reefs are made of hard coral colonies next to and on top of each other

4. Soft Corals Lack the limestone skeleton & therefore do not build reefs
Have soft bodies made up of a large number of polyps connected by fleshy tissue
Sway as the water moves

5. Draw a coral polyp & label anything with a * next to it!
Coral Anatomy * * * *
Draw a coral polyp & label anything with a * next to it! *
FYI
Hard corals - 6 (or multiples of 6) smooth tentacles
Soft corals – 8 feathery tentacles * *

6. Coral Anatomy Polyp – A single coral Animal
Mouth - Where food goes in and waste comes out
Tentacles – Surround the mouth, capture food, clear away debris
Nematocysts – Stinging cells found in the epidermis
Stomach – Where food is digested
Calyx – Protective cup that the polyp to sit in
Basal Plate – The base of the calyx
Theca – Walls surrounding the calyx

7. Zooxanthellae?
A single-celled, photosynthetic algae that lives in the tissues of hard corals.

8. Zooxanthellae Provides:
Symbiosis
Zooxanthellae Provides:
Glucose & Oxygen (which corals use to make proteins, fats & carbs)
Waste removal
Color
Coral Polyps Provide:
A safe home
Carbon Dioxide & nutrients from their waste
Mutualistic Relationship: both benefit