MADREPORA - madrepore

Stony corals are the main builders of coral reefs, and almost all of them form a colony. Their polyps have six or more shoots, whose number is divisible by six. Each polyp produces calcium carbonate, which strengthens the structure of the entire colony. Polyps feed by zooplankton and the zooxanthellae algae living in symbiosis with coral and gives it a nice color that is often erroneously considered an inherent characteristic of the coral. Shapes and sizes of stony corals are very diverse: they come in the form of branched tree, towers and monoliths, spheres, twisting mazes, large umbrellas and many other forms.

Acropora - one of the most intricate in the form of coral, often providing a safe shelter for fish and due to the presence of zooxanthellae painted in purple and pink hues. This is one of the largest coral tropical seas, including and the Red Sea.

Members of the family Pontes, large, with massive structure, resembling a real rock, often provide shelter and polychaetes bivalviyam. The surface of coral Pachyseris covered with numerous small furrows, like coral brushed.

Family Favites (mosaic coral) owes its name to the structure of coral-like honeycomb.

Family Fungia (mushroom coral) mostly are solitary. Their name is derived from numerous thin walls, resembling plates of mushrooms.

Fungia repanda has a disklike shape and is often mistaken for beginers as dead coral, in the day the tentacles of the polyp does not protrude, and he looks completely immobile. Only at night between the plates push in coral tentacles and polyp feeds on plankton.

Corals from Dendrophyllia type resemble the beautiful colors of yellow or pink color. In the day of their tentacles are also hidden inside the polyps. They are found in the vaults of dark caves on the appropriate depth. At a depth can be seen as beautiful branched colonies Tubastrea, very fragile and break upon impact, their tentacles popping out at night, making them look like flowering plants.