Page 357 - The Dutch Caribbean Isles

eproduction in fire corals is more complex leisure, or when collecting fish for the aquarium in sea critters taken on the color scheme of
trade. For instance, the yellowtail damself- the fire coral patch itself. A classic example is a
Rthan in other reef-building corals. The polyps ish tends to dwell close to the branching fire species of file fish that has developed a color
coral colonies, and retreats into its branches scheme that matches the color of the fire coral
reproduce asexually, producing jellyfish-like me- when threatened. In Brazil, fire coral colonies itself near Klein Bonaire. Fire coral comes in a
dusae, which are released into the water from are extensively damaged when harvesting the range of colors including red, yellow, brown,
special cup-like structures known as ampullae. yellowtail damselfish, as the corals are often green, purple, white and almost every color of
The medusae contain the reproductive organs deliberately smashed and fishes hiding amongst the rainbow.
that release eggs and sperm into the water. Fer- the branches are ‘shaken out’ into plastic bags.
tilized eggs develop into free-swimming larvae Asting from first coral can be painful. Blisters
that will eventually settle on the substrate and The unique colorization of fire corals and form and the skin peals away. The skin will
form new colonies. Fire corals can also repro- the large patches they can form becomes scab over and then heal. The process can take
duce asexually by fragmentation. home to many sea critters than have taken on up to two weeks.
adaptive colors that mix and match the color
Most fire coral species have brittle skeletons of the fire coral patches. This classic Darwinian
that can easily be broken, for example, selected adaptive natural selection has resulted
during storms, or by divers. Divers can easily
break the branches of fire corals when diving for