As one of the oldest marine organisms on the earth, corals have lasted for hundreds of millions of years and can be said to have witnessed the history of the earth. Coral is gorgeous and mysterious, in ancient times, Wang Mian in the "Red Plum Qishi", through the poem "Dao people do not dream of Luofu, sit and watch the coral sea red", the seabed colorful, colorful corals described. In life, we may often hear corals, coral reefs, and even some people may have heard the word coral, so what is the relationship between these three words. Next, listen to us one by one.
coral
Polyps are low-level marine animals with cylindrical coelenterates. They are small, their bodies are usually cylindrical, and they have many tentacles, with a mouth in the center of the tentacles, and many small tentacles grow around the mouth to capture tiny creatures in the ocean. During their growth, polyps absorb calcium and carbon dioxide from seawater, and then secrete limestone, which becomes a shell for their own survival. Because of these shells, the polyps have become one of the builders of the "seabed garden".
anthozoan
There are countless small holes in the shell (bone) of the polyps, which are the "home" for the polyps to settle down. Countless polyps gather together to grow, sucking calcium carbonate from seawater to form their common "home" and fixing them on the seabed, thus forming corals. That is, polyps live attached to corals. Coral is a collective name for many types of organisms in the coral order, belonging to the coelenterate phylum polyps, which is the largest order in the coelenterate phylum, with more than 7,000 species. They look like plants or fungi, but in fact they are animals, made up of many polyps that come together.
The polyps themselves are transparent, but there is a coral algae in the cells of the endothelial layer of healthy polyps, and it is this symbiotic algae that gives them color. Corals multip in the tropics reproduce rapidly, grow fast, the old continue to die, the new continues to grow, the bones are also expanded, the sand is formed into towers, and over time, corals become a variety of coral reefs and coral islands. China's Dongsha Islands and Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, Maldives Island in the Indian Ocean, Fiji Island in the South Pacific Ocean and the world-famous Great Barrier Reef are all built by small polyps.
coral reef
Corals are one of the most important ecosystems in the ocean, where countless marine life thrives. In the ocean, coral reefs, although they occupy less than 0.2% of the area, can support 1/4 of the marine life species, and nearly 1/3 of the marine fish live in it. Coral reefs not only nurture marine life, but also silently protect the coastline, like natural breakwaters. When a wave hits a coral reef, its impact force can be absorbed or weakened by 70 to 90 percent.
Corals are also good ornaments, and we sometimes see ornaments made of coral in stores, which of course are just skeletons of dead polyps, not live polyps. From ancient times to the present, there are still some legends about corals. For example, the ancient Romans believed that corals had the functions of preventing disasters, giving people wisdom, stopping bleeding and repelling heat. It is closely related to Buddhism, Buddhists in India and China and Tibet regard red coral as the embodiment of the Buddha, they use coral as a mascot for Buddha worship, mostly used to make Buddha beads, or used to decorate idols, is a highly cherished jewelry gem variety.
In fact, the knowledge about coral is really broad and profound, today Xiaobian will briefly introduce here, small partners if you are interested in a certain part of the coral content, welcome to leave a message to pay attention to, we will continue to explain to you according to everyone's interests. We'll see you next time.