Physical description ⁴

These corals commonly have tentacles in multiples of three, which is characteristic of all corals belonging to the subclass Zoantharia, also known as Hexacorallia (Encarta 1997). At night, the tiny fingerlike tentacles of the corals emerge. They pump themselves up with water and pop out like tiny stars all over a coral reef (Sargent 1991). The staghorn coral, -A. cervicornis-, grows into "antler-like branches" so the polyps are raised above the sand (McGregor 1974). Staghorn corals have nematocysts, which are stinging cells that are located on their tentacles. These stinging cells are necessary for a coral to obtain food (Sisson 1973).

Sources and Credits

1. Original uploader was Albert Kok at nl.wikipedia. (Original text : Albert Kok), no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Hertshoon.jpg/460px-Hertshoon.jpg
2. Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Staff (NOAA), no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/26879.jpg
3. (c) Callie, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Callie
4. (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/18630483

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Corals of the World
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SeaLifeBase
• World Register of Marine Species

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