Coral polyps have a soft body, stomach, and mouth surrounded by tentacles . They use these tentacles to capture their prey, plankton. Growing inside the coral are tiny plants called zooxanthellae. These plants use the sun to make food. This food is passed on to the coral, and it helps the coral to grow.
Polyps live close together in colonies.
They take calcium from the ocean to build a hard shell around themselves that they use for support and protection. These skeletons grow one on top of another. As a result, the reef grows too. It takes hundreds and thousands of years for a coral reef to develop . Plate Coral Fire Coral Coral has been around for 500 million years.