Page 43 - Caribbean Reef Life Demo

Soft Corals, or gorgonians, are made up of many thousands of tiny coral polyps growing on a common structure. Each polyp always has eight tentacles. A strong base, or holdfast, keeps gorgonians in place and allows them to grow out away from the reef, further into the water column. ere the individual polyps are able to feed on more of the tiny bits of plankton passing by in the current.
Soft corals deserve a closer inspection. They play host to a variety of reef creatures, feeding and taking shelter from their predators. There are many species of commensal shrimps, crabs, smaller shes and even elusive nudibranchs that have evolved to live in these micro-environments.
92