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