Want to go diving in Sanya? Don’t touch these “punishing” corals

With the relaxation of epidemic prevention policies, many friends have started to plan to travel again. Especially now that the weather is still cold, it would be so comfortable to go to a tropical island to swim and enjoy the sun, beach and coral reef world.

Come, tell me the place names: Maldives, Tahiti, Palau, Bali, Saipan, Phuket, Cebu, Semporna, Sabah, Red Sea, PG Island, Raja Ampat, Mama Paddy, Okinawa... | needpix

However, if you can only say "beautiful" when facing the magical coral reefs, how can you be the most knowledgeable, loving and outstanding young people in your circle of friends? ! We have prepared a "Tropical Island Pretending Guide". Even if you can't go to the island, it's also a good idea to fantasize about traveling while slacking off at work!

Quickly learn about half of the corals

When you finally reach the beach, don’t forget to marvel at what a magical place the coral reef is. The water here is crystal clear and has the highest biodiversity in the world.

Don't panic. Although coral taxonomy is still being refined and many coral scholars frown when facing samples, many common species can be identified to the family or even genus with almost no taxonomic knowledge.

A large cluster of staghorn corals | Wang Huohuo

In coral reefs in good condition, the most abundant corals are often Acropora , so much so that if you take a random photo of a branching coral and say it is an Acropora, there is at least a 50% chance that it is correct , especially a large forest of long branches like the one in the picture above. Other genera of corals rarely form.

As a rigorous and scientifically literate young person, you will definitely not be satisfied with a 50% chance of being right. Fortunately, the main identification feature of Staghorn coral is very easy to identify. In addition to the branching shape, the biggest identification feature of Staghorn coral is that there is an axial hole that runs from the tip to the entire branch . It is almost impossible to make a mistake with this axial hole.

Look for this hole | Wang Huohuo

It should be noted that the axial hole refers to the axial hole of each branch , and many staghorn corals gather together to form a whole piece like a table top, which is called a table coral.

Table coral formed by Staghorn coral | Albert Kok / Wikimedia

If you look closely at its branches, you can easily see that each branch has a through axial hole .

Now that I'm here, how can I not take a closer look? | Wang Huohuo

As for those branching corals without axial holes, there are many categories. For example, if you travel to Hainan, you are likely to see vendors selling coral skeletons like the one shown below.

Cup coral | OpenCage / Wikimedia

Such coral skeletons sold in handicraft shops in Hainan and even in the mainland are almost all cup corals (Pocillopora), usually verrucosa (Pocillopora verrucosa) or meandrina (Pocillopora meandrina).

But do you remember our character, an outstanding young man with a strong sense of responsibility? So since these kinds of handicrafts are all illegal , you know what to do.

Pocillopora verrucosa dead and alive | AC Tatarinov, Philippe Bourjon / Wikimedia

Swipe to see a multi-curved cup coral dead and alive | Brocken Inaglory / Wikimedia

If you can recognize these two genera, you will have recognized half of the more than 400 species of reef-building corals. According to the principle that you have read the book after reading the book review, you are already a taxonomic expert. But if your friends ask you a few more questions and find that you can only say staghorn corals and cup corals, wouldn't that be a rip-off? Don't worry, here are some easy-to-recognize and interesting corals to meet your needs.

Next, let's get to know the remaining corals

1. Porites

If you see something wrinkled like the one shown below in the sea, most commonly yellowish-brown in color, with very small polyp "flowers" on the surface, only one or two millimeters in size, and sometimes with pink patches of "big rocks" on the surface, then you can confidently say that this is Porites !

Porites coral | Mudasir Zainuddin/Wikimedia

Such corals (of course, there are many other forms of corals) are usually orange corals or agglomerate corals. This kind of coral grows slowly, and the radius may only increase by one centimeter each year, but this kind of coral can grow to be very large. Sometimes you can even see huge individuals with a diameter of more than ten meters . If you see it, don't forget to take a photo. It may have been growing there quietly since the Tang Dynasty.

It is also because of its longevity that the bones deposited under its body contain very precise information on climate change in the area over thousands of years. This information can be obtained by drilling these bones and conducting isotope dating, which has become very solid evidence of global warming.

Such spectacular and sentimental corals are enough to make your circle of friends shine.

The knowledge points have been summarized for everyone, and it is up to you to show how to shine | Philippe Bourjon / Wikimedia

2. Stone Coral

Most of the corals in the Fungiidae family are very easy to identify. They are basically Fungiidae corals if you can see the radial septa lying on the reef or sand.

This type of coral is very unique. Most corals grow fixed in one place, but this type of coral can move its body at an extremely slow speed by filling its base with water. But remember, do not take pictures of this type of coral without the dive guide's consent.

Lithops coral | Ryan McMinds / Wikimedia

Striped Lithops coral | Ryan McMinds / Wikimedia

3. Soft Corals

In addition to stony corals, don't forget the soft corals with more diverse colors. The most beautiful, easy to recognize, and widely distributed are undoubtedly sea chicken crowns or water corals . They all belong to the Nephtheidae family , and most common species belong to Dendronephthya sp. Look at the soft coral in the photo that looks like a tree and has extremely bright colors. It is almost certainly this.

Spike of the Thorn soft coral | Alexander Vasenin / Wikimedia

In addition, there are the famous sea trees, sea fans, and sea willows, all of which belong to the Gorgoniidae family and are also very easy to recognize. Just like their common names, the things that look like small trees, fans, and willow branches in the sea are gorgonians.

Gorgonian coral | James St. John / Wikimedia

The famous red coral looks very similar to this type of coral and is closely related, so unscrupulous merchants often use red sea gorgonian skeletons to deceive people and say that they are red corals. In fact, there is a big difference between them: the skeleton of red coral is calcium , while the skeleton of ordinary gorgonian is keratin . There are also sea gorgonian cigarette holders on the market, which are made of the thick keratin base of sea gorgonian.

Red coral is a first-class protected animal in my country | James St. John / Wikimedia

Of course no matter which one it is, it is basically illegal all over the world , so you know.

4. Crushed coral

A large number of broken corals can be seen on the beaches of coral reef islands. Although most of the identification features on them have been worn away, which is why you can make random guesses, we can still make a rough estimate.

The most common small rod-shaped ones are most likely the skeletons of Staghorn corals.

Odd and End Coral Sticks | needpix

This grid-by-grid comparison is probably of the Faviidae family of corals.

Chrysanthemum coral | Wang Huohuo

If the skeleton is rounder and the holes are smaller and deeper , it could be a Goniopora coral.

Scleractinian (Hard) Coral Fauna of the Gulf

Such long strips of small grids are most likely flat brain corals (Platygyra) - of course, don't forget to add the word "maybe" to ensure your rigor.

Flat brain coral | Marco Verch / flickr

Some small suggestions

Get a sunscreen that's labeled Reef Safe on the bottle, or a physical sunscreen (which only contains the physical sunscreens titanium oxide and zinc dioxide).

Chemical sunscreens such as oxybenzone are highly toxic to corals. Just the tiny amount applied on a person’s body and the amount applied by tourists on a beach is enough to cause heavy casualties to an entire coral reef. Sunscreens containing ingredients such as oxybenzone have been banned in some areas.

When snorkeling, do not touch the coral, do not step on it, and do not sit on it.

A large percentage of coral reef fish contain some amount of ciguatera toxin . Although the general content is not lethal, the latest research shows that even very low doses of ciguatera toxins can have significant chronic toxic effects such as liver toxicity. If someone invites you to eat local wild giant grouper , please refuse.

Author: Wang Huohuo

Cover image source: Wang Huohuo

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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