CORALS

BY : Irza Akhtar
Roll# GY21 F18
 Contents
 Introduction
 Reproduction
 General Characteristics of Corals
 Coral morphology
 Classification
 Preservation
 Reef= types
 Environmnet
 Introduction
 Corals are fully marine organisms, found on sea bed= show to abyssal
 E.g.: reef of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
 first appeared in the early Palaeozoic
 Corals are grouped with the sea anemones and jellyfish into the
phylum Cnidaria on the basis of the simple construction of their soft
bodies.
 Preservation= paleaozoic reef=Evolutionary history(importance)=
palaeoenvironments(narrow tolerance limits to a range of
environmental parameters)
 Attached/ free floating .
 Reproduction

 Attached to substrate= polyps

 Several polyps make up a
colony (m)or are solitary(mm)
 Reproduce sexually/ asexually
 Free swim/ float(medusae)
 the polyp reproducing asexually
to produce a medusa, the
medusa
 reproducing sexually to produce
the polyp, and so on
 General Characteristics of Corals

 Soft bodies
 Multicellular/ metazoan (simple structure)
 soft body consists of a gut or body cavity (enteron)
surrounded by tentacles which gather food suspended
in the water column
 Food is broken down and assimilated into the body
through the internal wall of the gut, the endoderm. In
order that this process is efficiently carried out, the
endoderm is subject to a series of folds, known as
 mesenteries, which increase the overall surface area of the gut
wall. The outer wall of the polyp is known as the ectoderm,
and between the ectoderm and endoderm cell walls is a jelly-
like layer which contains a simple nervous system.
 the life history of an individual to have successive cycles of
attached polyps (typified by the sea anemone) and free-
floating medusae (typified by the
 jellyfish), the polyp reproducing asexually to produce a
medusa, the medusa
 reproducing sexually to produce the polyp, and so on
 CORAL MORPHOLOGY

 mostly aragonitic skeletons

 coral skeleton, the corallum, is composed of
relatively few characters
 outer wall or epitheca =common= often irregular in
form and has a rough (rugose) texture,
 usually with a series of incremental growth bands on
its surface= made by secretion= calice
 development of successive calices as the coral grows
 septa are vertical walls which are radially arranged so that
they extend inwards
from the inner wall of the epitheca
 Septa serve as a support for the mesenteries,
 With growth, more septa are added radially
 the rugose corals, have two
 additional structural components: dissepiments and an axial
complex
 Dissepiments =small structural elements which are mostly
restricted to the outermost part of the shell interior, close to
the interior of the outer wall.
 junction between the tabulae and the interior of the epitheca,
in order to improve the fit of the polyp to the ca1ice
 Axial complex = a range of features, from a single column of
calcite (the columella) to a series of net-like and web-like
structural elements.
 occupies the central axis of the corallum
 Coral shapes are variable= cone(horn corals), disc-
shaped(button corals)& cylindrical
A: section through a hypothetical rugose coral in life.

B: structure of a typical solitary rugose coral

 Corals classification
 Hydrozoa= shallow tropical corals = common on
reef= aragonitic= box work branches perpendicular
to waves= in caves

 Anthozoa= the three subclasses of Anthozoa the

1. Tabulates
2. rugosans
3. scleractinians
 Tabulate coral

 are always compound(colonies)

 possess only tabulae as major internal shell features
 are relatively simple
 have variable colony shapes, most commonly brain-coral-like
(with polygonal or rounded corallites surrounded by a dense
calcareous mass); picket fence-like (with individual corallites
joined in a kind of chain, forming the'fence'); or forming
simple branching corallites
 simplest of the three main skeletal coral. groups.. The tabulae
are often domed. There are no septa,
 Rugose corals
 are relatively complex
 may be compound or solitary - compound corals may be brain-coral-
like
 (massive) with polygonal corallites; branching; or composed of
subparallel,
 Cylindrical corallites
 possess tabulae, septa, dissepiments and an axial complex
 possess septae which are inserted in four specific areas, leading to the
creation of gaps known as fossulae and the development of a
bilateral symmetry
 have dissepiments organised into a special area, the dissepimentarium
 have a variable axial complex
 Scleractinian corals
 corals belonging to the order
Scleractinia
 are compound or solitary -
compound corals may be brain-
coral-like (massive); arranged in
linear series: branching; or
composed of subparallel, cylindrical
corallites
 possess tabulae and septa, but no
dissepimentarium or axial complex
 have septa which are inserted
radially in regular groups of six
Time period
 preservation

 Soft bodies= finer fragments

 Stony skeleton breaks(weathering)
 Cobble, pebble= reef
 My break into sand sized particles
 Aragonitic dissolve(diagenesis)
 Eventually preserve at shallow or deep water=
reef
 Types of Coral
Reefs
 Atoll Reef- extends all around a lagoon without a
central island. * when an island sinks below the
ocean’s surface.
 Fringing Reef- directly attached to shore. * grow
up to the edge of the shore.
 Barrier Reef- separated from mainland by
lagoon. * only grow when there is a change of
sea level on the coast adjacent from it. * grow
where land is sinking faster in the water.
 Environment
 Reef-building corals require clear, warm water
 Shallow areas mostly
 Most reefs are between 26° N and S latitude
 There are corals found off Alaska and other cold
 waters, but they grow very slowly and do not form reefs.
 Environmental requirements:
 Physical environment
 Temperature of 25-31oC (limited Northwards by the
18oC minimum isotherm)
 Salinity of 34-37 ppt
 Biological environment
 Oligotrophic, highly stratified water column
 applications

 Paleoenvironmental conditions
 Temperation
 Salinity= depth
 Wave current motion
 Palaeobiology= Presence of zooxanthelate
 References

 Scoffin, T.P., 1986. An introduction to carbonate

sediments and rocks.
 Doyle, P., 2014. Understanding fossils: an
introduction to invertebrate palaeontology. John
Wiley & Sons.