What is a coral fan?
Fan Coral is a type of coral that develops a highly branched flexible skeleton, which is often very similar to the fan, albeit somewhat ineffective. These corals belong to the order of Gorgonacea, named for the mythical Gorgon, a figure in Greek mythology closely associated with snakes. In some cases, fans can resemble tangled clusters of snakes, which explains the scientific name. As with other corals, the marine fan is not the only organism. In fact, it is a colony of organisms known as polyps that combine and develop a supportive skeleton. In the case of sea fans, brom, iodine and tyrosine use polyps to create a flexible substance known as gorgonin. The fan coral tends to be rough and slightly horny and is durable except flexible, ensuring that sea fans can withstand heavy currents.
The color coral of the fan varies depending on the type and whether the symbiotic algae live inside the seafood. Colors usually move from yellow to red, with polypY located along the branched fan arms. Polyps have eight tentacles that they use to filter organisms with free floating water to eat. They can also feed on symbiotic algae when present. Because the Coral fan cannot actively hunt its prey, it requires strong currents to provide sufficient nutrition.
Coral is primarily night, with polyps during the day attracting tentacles to protect themselves from predators and the potential of sunburn. These corals are reproduced by eggs and sperm that are connected in water to become gamets. Gametes free-fluat until they find the sand or mud area in which they settle.
There are more than 500 types of fan corals, most of which are the Atlantic. These corals can live at the age of hundreds of years and grow very slowly. Fan Coral is also very vulnerable to human interference, because careless divers can break the arms, destroy decades of growth and trawlers routinely ripping a Coral fan as they extract the ocean bottom for fish.Fans corals are also vulnerable to intentional harvest for commercial profit and nutrient drain that can trigger eyelash flowers that cover water, making the life of Coral a fan.