Black coral

Educational value

• Black coral is the common name for a group of about 230 species of coral. Also known as Antipatherians, black corals live in all oceans of the world but are most common in tropical and subtropical waters. They are found at a range of depths but are under threat in shallow waters in areas where they are collected for the jewellery trade. Some of these areas are now protected.
• Black corals are named for their distinctive black or dark-coloured skeleton, which may be branching or a single stem. Corals are composed of colonies of polyps. Each polyp is an individual animal with a sac-like body. The polyps of the black corals are often brilliantly coloured and occur in a range of colours including white, yellow, red, green or brown. Black corals are long lived and slow growing, ranging in size from a few centimetres to several metres high.
• Black corals eat small marine organisms including plankton, amphipods and marine worms. They have six tentacles covered with stinging cells, which they use to capture their prey. Black corals are also important as a refuge for other marine animals such as fish, barnacles and shrimps, which shelter in the coral branches.
• Corals are very sensitive to environmental change, and many types of coral are under threat throughout the world. Environmental changes, such as rising ocean temperatures, are having a large detrimental effect on coral reefs. Coral reefs are a habitat for many plants and animals, and are an important marine ecosystem.

Year level

5; 6; 7; 8

Topics Marine habitats Plankton Corals