Focus on Arts and Ecology

Reef-building corals can get their food in two distinct ways. The first is through a unique relationship with tiny algae called zooxanthellae that live inside coral polyps; using sunlight, these algae create sugar that transfers to and nourishes the host. In turn, the coral provides the algae with a protective home and carbon dioxide.

Coral polyps can also eat by using stinging tentacles to pull zooplankton into their mouths. Polyps' stomach cavities are interconnected, so food obtained by one polyp can be passed to other polyps in the colony. Coral polyps excrete their waste through their mouths.

Watch our new time-lapse video showing polyp "mouths" munching on zooplankton onFacebook or YouTube.