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A coral has just spawned. Each of the hundreds of polyps releases a small pink bundle of sperm and eggs.

Article

A Tale of Sex and Stress in the Ocean

October 2010

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What is coral? The answer is coral is an animal. This cutaway diagram of a coral polyp shows the location of its photosynthetic algae, or zooxanthellae, which coral needs to survive.

Photo

What Is Coral? A Coral Polyp and Zooxanthellae

April 2018

This purple urchin Paleopneustes cristatus is seldom seen by itself, and can be found in groups of hundreds.

Photo

Purple Sea Urchin

August 2012