What is a Coral? Which ones are harmless?

This guide aims to help describe the different types of coral and what they actually are.

If you are just interested in the list of corals that should be safe, skip right to the end until you see a box chart with pictures of corals.
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By Ryan Lee Thomas

www.FacileFish.com

What is a Coral?
Corals are not from the plant species and are in fact part of the animal tree of life. Coral s are often referred to having polyps , and these Polyps are back-boned less living animal and are often structure with a surrounding calcium carbonate skeleton that is attached to rocks for protection. The reason corals appear to be so hardly on a rock they are stationed upon is not because the animal has grown as an individual but it is that each new Polyp is in fact a new animal and they connect closely together to form a colony which has complex gastro vascular canals, effectively pooling and sharing the food throughout the colony. Many Corals have a symbiotic relationship with algae, they shelter the algae within the polyp and the algae produce lipids and food for the Coral. (SI-1) Due to the Coral being an animal and not a plant, most corals are carnivorous and will require food substrate of some kind. Depending on the coral and what symbiotic abilities it has; the coral can be categorized into 4 easily distinguishable groups. Category 1 Description Corals contain no nematocyst (stingers) Does not have sweeping feeding tubes, does not produce chemicals. Effectively Harmless. Contains no nematocyst, does not have sweeping feeding tubes, CAN produce chemicals which will affect other corals growth. Mostly Harmless. Cannot harm Fish non-corals. Does have feeding tubes and can produce a stinging arm in the evening s, even if the Polyp s themselves do not have nematocysts, some part of the animal will. Harmful to both fish and corals. Can actively sting, is very carnivorous. Threat to both Corals and fish. Only one species of Coral is being placed in this group and that is Zoa s, possibility that these corals are extremely toxic and it is difficult to examine which are and which aren t.

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Fig.1 The above table has been created to help describe different corals ability to impose itself on the reef aquarium as well as other tank mates. This catagorisation system is not used commonly and is purely for your benefit. The only corals that can be classed as non-stinging corals are those that have been classified for the sake of this article in category 1 and 2. Although 3 and 4 are not generally bad reef corals, some of the most beautiful corals belong to what has been labled 3 and 4 in this article, but are classed as stinging corals so may be undesirable to be had with delicate species such as Seahorses, but by no should be avoided by all.

Types of Coral?
There are two main categories of coral s. Hard and Soft corals, Hard corals can further be broken down into LPS (Large Polyped Stony) and SPS (small Polyped Stony). (SI-2) SOFT CORALS HARD CORALS

LPS Corals SPS Corals

Fig.2 Table to demonstrate the different types of corals and further sub classification. The groups are not taxonomical groups, they are just easier ways to find and separate corals, these terms are used by local fish shops (LFS). The main obsereable difference between the two types of coral are the presence of a calficium carbonate structure. The hard corals are mainy display the Polyp on large artificially made calcifum structures, and the way they do this differs between hard rock classes, where as soft coral much more flesh and may have a calcium carbonate structure somewhere within it to give it more strength but are soft. It is very important to note that Anemones are not a type of coral.

SPS corals
SPS corals have very small Polyps and are based on a hard calcium based skeleton. Due to the majority of the coral being calcium giving the impression of stone, these corals do not typically move in currents and are very hard to touch. Due to them being SPS and the majority of their growth requires a hard substrate of calcium; these corals are slow to grow.

Image sourced Av at: http://www.fishlore.com/coral/photos/birdsnest-coral-lg.jpg These corals need heavy lighting compared to most other corals, and need a good source of water slow. SPS are very temperamental and need extremely good water quality. SPS usually eat small foods are normally filter feeds, they also are more accustomed to very chaotic water flows and currents which mimics their position in the reef (higher up striving for more light)

LPS corals
Are less fussy than SPS and therefore can survive less lighting, they can also survive is slightly worse water conditions. LPS corals can be seen swaying in the water and often when hungry will produce tentacle around a centralised mouth. They are still based on a centralised skeleton but much more fleshy Polyp is present giving the name of Large Polyped Stony. Typically LPS require frequest feeding as they would be located lower in a ntural reef so would rely more on zooplankton and other small critters to ingest, also would require more blue light and a slower laminar flow pattern to simulate their natural positing in the wilds.

Img Av at: http://www.saltwatermasters.com/articles/images/19/caulestrea.jpg

Soft Corals
Soft corals have no skeleton, but will anchor themselves to rock with a calcified base. Soft corals can come in range of shades and colours. Compared to LPS and SPS corals; soft corals are much easier to keep and can survive in lower light and worse water conditions that other corals. Soft Corals can reproduce very quickly so it should be noted that they can be quite difficult to remove later is they are able to take a good holding in the aquarium.

What are the main differences between Soft and Hard corals (inc. SPS and LPS)?
Mainly doe not create structures are they grow and live, they only anchor themselves down to surface and feed, when they die they will leave nothing behind whereas a hard coral s whole structures is made up of calcium carbonate, which is why hard corals are classed as reef builders. When a hard coral dies it will leave its skeleton which will provide a new area of growth for new corals of both varieties. Although SPS hard corals may be easily identified from Soft corals, due to them being mainly calcium structure, LPS and soft corals may sometimes look the same, for example Briareum sp. Also known more commonly as Starburst Polyp could be mistaken for a LPS hard coral due to its calcified base it creates and retracts into. A simple test to tell the different is by simply counting its tentacles, all soft coralws have 8 tentacles around the mouth piece, while hard corals will always have multiples of 6. (SI-3)

Stinging Capabilities
Most corals sting, this is due to them being closely related to jelly fish an anemones, not all do, and not all actively sting for example, presenting stings on the surface of their polyps. Importanly to note, LPS hard corals have the most powerful stings out of the corals, only second to anemones. They are very aggressive in their tatics for providing room for themselves and rather interestingly will produce a long stinging tentacle which is far longer than ordinary polyps. This tentacle will swing around stinging anything it can touch. SPS is lesser aggressive than LPS, as they are used to being in close proximity and are more able to secure their resources by growing outwardly, SPS do contain stinging tentacles aswell. Both corals require their own dedicated space. Soft corals. Soft corals do not tend to have stinging equipment which makes them the only real species that can be investigated as non-stinging corals (with few exceptions in hard corals) however, many soft corals are able to produce chemicals instead of stinging tentacles which can be detrimental to the health of all corals in the tank.

Stingless Coral
Below are some example of coral that are known to have no stinging capabilities, any coral that may exude characteristics class as 2 on the table will be explained. No category 3 or 4 corals are demonstrated here.

Starburst Polyp Briareum sp

Contains no stinging abilities or abilities to cause any harm, can spread onto adjacent rocks. Very interesting creature, retracts at night leaving a purple outer crusting.

Pulsing Xenia Xenia sp

Xenia has no stinging capabilities, but it is thought that it can produce chemicals that may effect other corals. Should also be noted that Xenia has the ability to grow very quickly within a tank.

Clove Polp Clavularia sp

Zoas Zoanthus sp Although this species does not have anything that can eat or sting, there has been research to suggest that nd they can contain the natures 2 most deadly poison.

Anthelia Antheila sp

Palys Palythoa sp

Yellow Polyps Protopalythoa sp

Pipe Organ Tubipora musica

References
Majority of images of stingless corals have been used from SI-5 source, an excellent bed of information on keeping delicate Seahorses.
SI-1 Av at: http://www.stanford.edu/group/microdocs/whatisacoral.html SI-2 Av at: http://www.saltwatermasters.com/articles/What-are-the-types-of-corals SI-3 Av at: http://www.coralfilm.com/faq.html#5 SI-4 Av at: http://www.ehow.com/info_8781181_difference-between-lps-sps-corals.html SI-5 Av at: http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/tankmates