About coral
Coral heads are made up of many small animals called polyps. These animals live in shells. They can be as small as the head of a pin, or as wide as 30cm.
Food
Corals need sunlight to make food. They only live as far down in the sea as the sunlight can reach. This means they do not live below 50 metres. Corals do not make their own food. There is a little organism that lives inside them that feeds them. These little organisms also give the corals their colour. The clearer the water, the faster thecorals grow. This is because the sunlight can shine better through clear water.
Types of corals
There are more than 1,000 types of corals. Some look like wrinkled brains, table tops, cabbages or reindeer horns. They wave their tentacles in the water to catch food.