Facts about coral polyps. Coral polyp. Corals as symbionts

Description

Coral polyps They live in warm tropical seas, where the water temperature is not lower than 20 °C, and at depths of no more than 20 meters, in conditions of abundant plankton, which they feed on. Usually during the day the polyps shrink, and at night they stretch out and straighten their tentacles, with the help of which they catch various small animals. Large single polyps - sea anemones ( Actinia) - capable of catching relatively large animals: fish, shrimp. Some species of coral polyps live through symbiosis with unicellular algae that live in their mesoglea.

There are muscle cells that form longitudinal and transverse muscles. There is a nervous system that forms a dense plexus on the oral disc.

Subclasses

Notes

see also

Links

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See what “Coral polyp” is in other dictionaries:

- (Greek). In medicine: fibrous growth or tumor like a wart on the mucous membranes human body: in the nose, straight. intestine, in the cervix. Dictionary foreign words, included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. POLYP in medicine... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

POLYP, polyp, husband. (Greek polypus, lit. centipede). 1. The name of sessile individuals of coelenterates. Coral polyp (zool.). 2. Tumor, painful growth on the mucous membranes (med.). Polyp in the nose. Dictionary Ushakova. D.N.... ... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

This term has other meanings, see Polyp. Single coral polyp of Ceriantharia with two corollas of tentacles Polyps or polypoid generation (... Wikipedia

Polyp ambiguous term: Polyp stage in life cycle Cnidarians (Cnidaria). Polyps in medicine are hyperplastic outgrowths of human tissue, for example, in the ear, nose, uterus. See also Coral polyp ... Wikipedia

POLYP, huh, husband. 1. Marine non-moving animal. Coral item 2. Painful formation (growth) from the epithelium of the mucous membrane. Nasal polyps. | adj. polypous, oh, oh. Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

A; m. [from Greek. polypus multi-legged] 1. A coelenterate animal, attached at one end to a stationary object and equipped with a mouth opening at the opposite end. Freshwater, coral item 2. Benign tumor of the mucous membranes... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

polyp- A; m. (from the Greek polypus many-legged) see also. polypous 1) A coelenterate animal, attached at one end to a stationary object and equipped with a mouth opening at the opposite end. Freshwater, coral poly/p. 2)… … Dictionary of many expressions

Polyps (coelenterates)- Coral polyp from the Red Sea. POLYPS (from the Greek polypus, literally many-legged), sessile (attached) individuals of some coelenterates; solitary (hydra, sea anemones) or colonial (coral polyps). Coral polyps... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Coral polyp; see Madrepor's article... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron

A, m. 1. A coelenterate animal, attached at one end to a stationary object and equipped with a mouth opening at the opposite end. Freshwater polyp. Coral polyp. 2. Benign tumor of the mucous membranes. Polyps... ... Small academic dictionary

beauty underwater world, its splendor and diversity always amaze nature lovers who go to see sea ​​creatures. At the heart of this diversity are some very unusual inhabitants.

Introducing interesting facts about corals

Corals have the most extraordinary range of colors, which shimmer beautifully in the ocean depths.

There are more than 6 thousand of these in the world underwater inhabitants and this is one of the richest varieties of coelenterates.

Corals are quite picky

So, for their growth they need adequate conditions: sufficient salinity of water, transparency, warmth and a lot of food. That is why coral reefs live in the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

It is interesting that in the World Ocean the area of ​​coral reefs totals about 27 million square meters. km.

The Great Barrier Reef is considered one of the greatest creatures these underwater growths. It extends near Australia.

Lime reserves thanks to coral reefs are almost inexhaustible

Some areas of such reefs are so large that they can rightfully be called coral islands.

The coral islands have own life and vegetation. You can even find cacti and tall shrubs here.

The local population uses corals to make jewelry.

The results are very beautiful and rainbow-colored products for the summer season.

Corals are also used as building material, polishing of metal surfaces and production of pharmaceuticals.

If a person is damaged by the coral barrier, the skin will take a very long time to heal. Even suppuration may appear at the wound site, regardless of whether the coral is poisonous or not.

Corals have special cells designed to protect

They are called stinging insects and at the moment of danger they release poison.

The Hindus had a belief that only men should wear red corals, and only women should wear white corals. It was believed that these colors are a kind of symbolism of one and the other sex, and in the case of “wrong wear”, each of them acquired the character traits of the opposite. How true this is is unknown.

Today, few men wear coral products. Well, women allow themselves any color scheme, including red. Apparently, it is precisely because of this that emancipation is flourishing in our country.

You will find other interesting facts about corals on the Internet.

The story about interesting facts about the corals themselves and how to use them in jewelry, we will start with numbers:

• 6000 - this is how many types of coral polyps are found in nature;
• 25 of them are suitable for jewelry processing;
• 350 - the number of possible shades in which natural corals are painted (the color depends on organic impurities);
• 4000 years is the age of the oldest coral discovered by modern researchers;
• 1–3 centimeters - this is how much a polyp grows in a year;
• 8000 meters - maximum depth coral habitats (Batipates species);
• 27,000,000 square kilometers - the total area of ​​coral reefs in the World Ocean;
• 60% of reefs are on the verge of extinction as a result of economic and other human activities;
• 2500 kilometers - the length of the record-breaking atoll - Bolshoy barrier reef, located off the coast of Australia;
• 2900 - the number of individual reefs included in it.

Corals in jewelry

Now about how jewelers use corals: interesting natural design The material dictates the approach of the craftsmen to its use in jewelry. The fact is that the branches broken off from natural reefs are so intricate and elegant that they often do not need serious modification. It is enough to sand the coral and coat it with a protective varnish to get products of enchanting beauty. The main advantage of such accessories is uniqueness, since nature is not repeated in the masterpieces it creates.

If miniature fragments of coral are used, depending on the design of the jewelry, the craftsmen preserve their irregular natural shape or give it:

• spherical;
• oval;
• cabochon (spherical, teardrop-shaped or oval bead with one flat edge);
• carved bead;
• cutting (pieces cut from a tubular branch).

Torre del Greco is recognized as the world center for coral processing. In this small town near Naples there are a lot of companies and handicraft industries focused on the production of jewelry and costume jewelry.

Confirmed facts We don’t have healing with corals or increasing wisdom and wealth with their help, but there is no doubt that the beauty of products from this sea gift improves mood and gives women confidence in their own charm.

- marine animals leading a colonial lifestyle live only in warm tropical seas. The water temperature at which coral polyps remain viable is not lower than 20 degrees. For example, the record depth for eight-rayed corals reaches 6120 meters. At the same time, polyps live in places where there is a lot of plankton, which is the main food.

Many coral polyps have a calcareous skeleton (sometimes there are polyps with a horny skeleton). The skeleton of polyps can be either external or internal. The calcareous skeleton allows them to take part in reef formation.

But the class of coral polyps also includes polyps that have a skeleton consisting of protein (including black corals and gorgonians). This class also includes animals that do not have a hard skeleton, such as sea anemones.

The lifestyle of the majority of coral polyps is usually nocturnal. IN daytime the polyps shrink and spread their tentacles at night. With the help of tentacles, food is obtained.

Sea anemone - home of ampifrions (clown fish)

Coral polyps: structure

Polyps have muscle cells that form muscles. Coral polyps have a well-developed nervous system. Nervous system predominantly located on the oral disc, where it forms a dense plexus.

Coral is usually the name given to the skeleton remaining after the death of polyps. Therefore, in the characteristics of coral polyps, the definition appears - reef-forming.

Different types of coral polyps

Typically, polyps are columnar in shape and located on the coral. At the top of the polyp is a disc from which many tentacles extend. The polyps are fixed motionless (the skeleton is common to the entire colony), the connection is carried out using a membrane that covers the skeleton. Reproduction of coral polyps occurs by budding, which leads to the fact that the number of individuals participating in the formation of the skeleton is constantly increasing.

The structure of a six-rayed coral polyp

Structure of an eight-rayed coral polyp

But the reproduction of coral polyps also occurs sexually. This is due to the fact that the majority of polyps are dioecious. Sexual reproduction usually occurs as follows: sperm enter the gastric cavity, from where they are released.

In the same way, they penetrate into the oral cavity of a female individual through the mouth. The egg formed as a result of fertilization develops for some time in the mesoglea. As a result of the development of the egg, larvae are formed, which leave the mother and swim freely. The larvae settle to the bottom, which gives rise to new polyps. But this process is not necessary for all polyps. For many, larvae do not form.

Asexual reproduction of sea anemone

Subclasses of coral polyps

Modern science distinguishes two subclasses of coral polyps. Subclasses include eight-rayed and hexaradiate polyps. As can be seen from the names of the subclasses, eight-rayed coral polyps have eight tentacles, while they have an internal skeleton, and eight septa in the gastric cavity.

Six-rayed coral polyps

Polyps do not have six tentacles (there is no analogy with eight-rayed ones), but many tentacles, the number of which is a multiple of six. In the gastric cavity, six-rayed polyps have complex system internal partitions (the number of partitions is also a multiple of six). Mostly six-rayed polyps have an external calcareous skeleton.

The coral polyp class belongs to the reef-forming class. Coral polyps, both coastal and atoll and barrier reefs, are responsible for their vital activity.

And with others interesting representatives invertebrates, these new articles will introduce you to:

There are amazing forms of corals. Some of them resemble underwater flowers. Each “twig” of such a flower consists of many individual polyps.

   Class -
   Row - Alcionaria, Gorgonaria, Madreporaria, etc.

   Basic data:
DIMENSIONS
Diameter: individual polyps up to 2 cm, colonies on average reach 3 m.

REPRODUCTION
They reproduce asexually through fission and budding. Colonies also produce sperm and eggs. Fertilized eggs hatch into larvae.

LIFESTYLE
Habits: lead a sedentary lifestyle seabed; there are individual individuals and columns.
Food: living plankton. Madrepore corals feed on waste products of algae that live in their bodies.

RELATED SPECIES
The class of coral polyps includes more than 6,500 species of madrepore corals, sea ​​feathers, gorgonians, sea anemones and many other animals. Jellyfish are not their close relatives.

   Coral polyps are unique underwater architects. In shallow waters tropical seas they form entire fabulous forests and meadows, which are an ideal place for the existence of many marine animals.

FOOD

   Coral polyps are active at night. They feed on plankton and organic particles in the water.
   Corals catch prey using paralyzing stinging cells, the stinging fibers of which are studded with small hooks. Many coral polyps live in symbiosis with unicellular algae. Algae comes from coral carbon dioxide and nitrogen and phosphorus compounds necessary for photosynthesis. Corals use both the main and by-products of photosynthesis - organic matter and oxygen. There is a continuous exchange of phosphorus between the owner and the cohabitant.

REPRODUCTION

   A coral colony grows as a result of budding, that is asexual reproduction, when a small shoot appears on an old individual that turns into a new young individual. Buds appear on tissues that connect individuals in a colony, or that grow on the base of the mother polyp. During sexual reproduction in the first phase of the month after the full moon, corals release billions of eggs and sperm into the water. All polyps of the same species release their reproductive cells into the water at the same time. Fertilized eggs develop into small larvae that become part of the zooplankton.

LIFESTYLE

   Coral polyp colonies are a large number of individual polyps firmly attached to each other, which together form branches, horns or other complex shapes. Individual polyps have the shape of a short cylinder with an opening at the upper end, surrounded by a corolla of tentacles. Special channels connect several layers of cells and transmit digested food to other members of the colony. Coral polyps can be divided into two groups. The first is formed by polyps that build a calcareous skeleton; they are called madrepore corals. The second group includes polyps with feathery tentacles, such as gorgonians, sea feathers and sea anemones. Coral polyps strengthen their massive skeleton with a special layer formed by the sole. Thanks to this solid foundation in case of danger, the polyp can instantly pull the body into the calcareous skeleton. Other types of corals are like large fans, they can bend and sway under the influence of sea ​​currents, because their skeleton is created by individual calcareous rods that are located in a jelly-like substance.

HABITAT

   Most often, coral polyps are found in shallow warm seas. Usually the water temperature here does not drop below -16 C. For madreporic corals the most optimal temperature is within 23 C. If the temperature changes significantly, the corals may die. Some types of coral polyps need to be reached Sun rays. Madrepore corals find ideal conditions at depths of up to 45 m, soft and mobile alcyonari are found up to a depth of 100 m. Madrepore corals do not settle near river mouths because they do not survive in fresh, running water. “Hunting” coral polyps willingly settle in the area of ​​​​sea currents. Thin but elastic gorgonians perfectly tolerate light waves of water (their columns are elastic and bend), while hard but fragile madrepore corals break under the influence of water or waves.
  

DID YOU KNOW THAT...

• Corals “fight” among themselves for territory. Coral polyps shoot out stinging fibers from their neighbors or grow so that they block their light.
• In the Mediterranean Sea large quantities noble coral is mined. Jewelry is made from it.
• Red coral painted in various shades red - from light pink to dark red. The most expensive coral is the rare black coral.

  

TWO NORTH ATLANTIC CORAL

   Alcyonarians: This is a coral that lives alone. It looks like an anemone, so it is easy to confuse it with it. The animal reaches 25 mm in diameter, its transparent tentacles grow in a corolla around the slit-like mouth opening.
   Gorgonians: lives in Atlantic Ocean, in the waters, warmed by the Gulf Stream. Colonies of this polyp form a horny, lime-soaked skeleton.

PLACES OF ACCOMMODATION
Found in all tropical and subtropical seas, as well as in some areas temperate zone. Reefs form on the warmer eastern parts of continents.
PRESERVATION
Corals are very fragile animals, so they are often destroyed by the anchors of ships that drag along the bottom.