In the vast ocean, corals, with their colorful posture and unique ecological value, have become a precious gift given to us by nature. Today, let us explore the wonderful world of sea corals and feel the charming charm they exude.
Some of these corals are as hot as flames, while others are as pure as ice and snow; some are colorful and dreamy, while others are simple and unadorned, but have a unique charm. They live in the deep sea or in the shallow sea, each showing different beautiful forms and ecological characteristics.
These beautiful sea corals are not only an important part of marine biodiversity, but also a key factor in maintaining the balance of marine ecology. They provide a place for many marine organisms to live and reproduce, and also bring endless aesthetic enjoyment and scientific research value to humans.
Please follow the fish man of the ornamental fish channel, let us walk into the magical world of these 10 most beautiful sea corals one by one, and feel the visual feast and spiritual shock they bring.
- Christmas tree worm coral
The Christmas tree worm coral is a peculiar marine organism known for its beautiful appearance that resembles a Christmas tree.
The Christmas tree worm is a tube worm of the class Polychaete of the phylum Annelida. Although it is small in size, it has many tube-like villi and is rich in colors, including yellow, orange, blue and white. The body of each Christmas tree worm is characterized by its spiral structure, which consists of 5 to 12 whorls, each of which contains tiny tentacles. These tentacles are covered with filamentous barbules with tiny hair-like cilia, and the grooves under the tentacles allow food to flow smoothly to its mouth at the bottom.
- Bubble Coral
Bubble coral, also known as vesicle coral or green bubble coral, is a very beautiful marine organism belonging to the family Anemone Coralidae. Its appearance is unique. It needs light to expand and expand. When it is open during the day, the coral polyp is white or yellow bubble-shaped, crystal clear, and looks like bubbles, pearls or grapes. When deflated, you can see that they have a hard skeleton, which is how the name of bubble coral came from.
The living habits of bubble corals are also very special. They are nocturnal creatures. During the day, they blow soft bubbles and do their best to play the role of “bunch of grapes”. This is because there are many zooxanthellae in their cysts, which is not only the source of their colorful colors, but also the source of energy for them. At night, bubble corals will extend their tentacles like anemones to prey.
It should be noted that bubble corals have highly toxic stinging cells, so they must be handled and collected very carefully, and they are very fragile and will break at the touch.
- Zoanthids
Zonthids are a type of zoanthid, which are relatives of corals and anemones. They mainly grow on rocks or coral reefs in shallow waters. Zoanthids are rich and varied in color, including red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple and other colors. They live closely together, forming a colorful “sea of flowers”, adding endless charm to the marine ecosystem.
However, despite their beautiful appearance, zoanthids are not completely harmless. Some species of zoanthids secrete a highly toxic substance, anemone toxin (hydrotoxin). This toxin is extremely toxic and is the second most poisonous substance in nature. One gram of anemone toxin can kill 300,000 mice and 80 people. Therefore, special care should be taken when handling zoanthids to avoid poisoning.
- Cup coral
Cup corals are beautiful corals from the deep sea. They feed on zooplankton and extend translucent tentacles at night. Cup corals are well-known for their bright colors and shapes. The most common shapes include cups and plates.
Cup corals are different from other coral species in their ecological habits. They are not species that grow on reefs, but rely on zooplankton for survival. The tentacles of this coral are active at night to help them capture food.
- Clove polyps
Clove polyps, also known as glove polyps, are stunning marine creatures that are mainly distributed in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. With their unique shapes and colorful colors, they add endless charm to the ocean.
The lilac polyp has eight tentacles that look like beautiful flowers. They have a variety of body colors, including brown, red, pink, white and green, as if they are masterpieces on the palette of nature. When you explore these waters, you will be shocked by a colorful “sea of flowers”, which is the home of the lilac polyp.
- Bulb sea squirt
The bulb sea squirt is a transparent marine creature with a cylindrical appearance. Its body is attached to shells, seaweed or vertical rock walls. There are yellow or white lines on its body, allowing people to observe the movement of its internal organs. From the appearance, it looks like a light bulb from a distance, hence the name bulb sea squirt.
The bulb sea squirt is a nocturnal creature that grows alone in medium and strong light waters, and uses gills to absorb oxygen in the water and ingests tiny organisms in the water as food through the intestines. This biological habit makes the bulb sea squirt play a unique role in the marine ecosystem.
- Tiger ear mushroom coral
Tiger ear mushroom coral, English name Metarhodactis sp, belongs to the coral mollusk, mainly distributed in the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean. They are unique in the coral world with their unique morphology and habits.
Tiger ear mushroom coral grows in clusters on rocks or live rock structures. Because they are easily stabbed by other fierce coral eaters, they need to keep a proper distance from other corals to grow. They feed on iodine, mysid shrimp, plankton and trace elements rich in seawater, and obtain these nutrients through the coral environment with moderate water flow.
Tiger ear mushroom coral has different colors, including red, orange, purple and green, and each color has its own unique beauty. Among them, the red tiger ear mushroom coral is the rarest and most precious species in the family, while the green tiger ear mushroom coral has many small spots on the surface.
In the aquarium environment, tiger ear mushroom coral is suitable for an environment with a water temperature of 22~28 degrees and a seawater specific gravity of 1.022. Its reproduction method is asexual reproduction, and its diet mainly consists of plankton or frozen bait.
- Big Flower Brain Coral
Big Flower Brain Coral is a colorful marine organism. Its appearance is like a human brain, with rich and diverse colors, including gray-green, reddish brown, light blue, etc. This coral mainly lives on the surface of reefs, and some live on mud or pebble ground 40 meters below the water surface, firmly attached to the ground through hooked pointed skeletons.
Big Flower Brain Coral is a weak light coral, which has certain requirements for light and is suitable for growing in an environment with a 500-1000 lumen twilight band. At the same time, they also have a certain adaptability to water quality and temperature. The suitable water temperature is 20-23 degrees, the specific gravity of seawater is 1.002-1.025, and the pH value is 8.1-8.4. In the daily breeding process, Big Flower Brain Coral belongs to a coral variety with lower breeding difficulty.
- Long Tentacle Coral
Long Tentacle Coral is a unique marine organism. Its overall shape is round, and its skeleton is relatively flat, but the septa are evenly distributed on the body disc. Its English name is Plate Coral, Long Tentacle, and its scientific name is Heliofungia actiniformis.
This coral is mainly distributed in marine coral reefs in Indonesia and other places. It especially likes to live in depressions with debris piles in coral reefs. Therefore, in marine aquariums, Long Tentacle Coral does not like light very much.
Long Tentacle Coral has rich and diverse colors, including purple, white, green, etc. When it is in a particularly good state, it even looks similar to anemones. This is mainly due to the presence of symbiotic algae in its body.
- Sheng Coral
This group is blocky, clustered, hemispherical or lumpy, with a flat surface and strangled by the plates of creeping branches. The skeleton is composed of evenly distributed red tubes with a diameter of about 1 mm to 2 mm, arranged in bundles, just like a musical instrument, so it is called Sheng coral, also known as musical coral. Sheng coral lives in groups and inhabits shallow coral reefs. There are large numbers of them. They are important reef-building corals. They usually reproduce asexually in polyps, but can also reproduce sexually. They are mainly found in the waters off Taiwan and the South China Sea.