Times of the Islands Summer 2024

green pages newsletter of the department of environment & coastal resources
A large colony of elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) grows on the reef near South Caicos.
At the center of all this activity are corals and the that form giant colonies and build hard skeletons of calcium
carbonate which form the foundations of reefs in
reefs they create. A thick trunk of deep orange elkhorn
coral extends from the hard bottom towards the surface, tropical seas worldwide.
gathering sunlight with branches that resemble open Corals not only provide shelter for fish and structure
for habitat, but also serve as the basis of energy
hands (hence elkhorn’s scientific name, Acropora palmata).
Other species, including brain corals and boulder for the entire ecosystem. Using tiny tentacles, coral
star corals, dot the reef with a dazzling variety of textures polyps ensnare and feed on plankton floating through the
and patterns.
water, but they get most of their energy from microscopic
algae called zooxanthellae that live inside their cells. The
The power of polyps
zooxanthellae use sunlight to make food through photosynthesis
and share the energy that they produce with
Although they are immobile and might seem more like
plants, corals are actually animals, most closely related the coral polyp in exchange for shelter. This energy then
to jellyfish and anemones. They are made of thousands gets passed up the food web through animals that feed
of tiny individuals called polyps, mere millimeters in size, on coral, forming the basis of one of the most biodiverse
HEIDI HERTLER
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