Coral is an amazing sea stone. Corals and all the most interesting things about them Coral plant

And coral islands. Coral growth is usually even favorable conditions no more than 1 cm per year in the longitudinal direction, so the formation of an average reef can take centuries, while islands can take millennia. Corals are close relatives of sea anemones, although they have fundamental difference from them.

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Etymology

Russian word"coral" rises through it. Koralle or Polish. koral to lat. corallium, which, in turn, was borrowed from ancient Greek. κοράλλιον .

Description and distribution

Corals have annual rings similar to those of trees. Some coral branches are hundreds of years old.

Ultraviolet light can damage corals in shallow waters. If the reduction of the Earth's protective ozone layer allows more ultraviolet radiation reach land, corals may disappear from habitats such as shallow waters.

Coral reefs have been found in cold waters Atlantic Ocean near Scotland.

There are several types of corals: tree-shaped, fan-shaped, etc.

Application

Black corals are mined in China and India.

As with pearls, the high cost of natural corals leads to a large number fakes

The law of some countries, for example Egypt and Thailand, prohibits the export of corals outside the territory of the state. As of February 2015, attempting to remove coral from Egypt is punishable by a fine of US$1,000.

Probably many people asked themselves the question: "". They often look like cute shaggy bushes with many branches; on the break there is something like annual rings, like trees, growing year after year, stretching upward, like trees. But still, corals are animals. Here are a few interesting facts and answers to the most common questions about corals:

Are corals animals or plants?
Where do corals live?
Who lives in coral reefs?

Are corals animals or plants?

The answer to this question was given by the French researcher Paysonnel, who in 1827 was for the first time able to convincingly prove that corals are animals, not plants.

What is “sessile benthos” and how does it relate to corals?

Corals along with sponges, oysters and others marine organisms, existing without separation from the seabed, form the so-called “sessile benthos”.

How are coral reefs formed?

Most often, when we hear the word “coral,” we don’t think of what corals are—animals or plants—but we think of either a coral reef in the tropics or coral beads. However, beads are also a processed piece of reef. So, not all corals form reefs, but only those that have a hard, rocky, calcareous skeleton. Corals are polyps and they live in colonies; after the members of the colony die, a solid skeleton is formed, which is called a reef. Reefs grow very slowly, their growth does not exceed a centimeter or two per year. Therefore, nature spends centuries on the formation of coral reefs.

What shapes and colors of corals are there?

Sami coral polyps Basically they look simple - a cylinder with tentacles near the mouth, with which they catch food. Small in size, sometimes evoking associations with jellyfish, and their appearance does not raise the question, what are corals, animals or plants? In this form, of course, they look more like animals. But their colonies have a wide variety of colors and sizes. And here analogies with plants are much more appropriate. Because it can be a separate “bush” and a “carpet” of various colors, and formations similar to mushrooms growing on trees, and what looks like a huge head, and a vase unusual shape– anything you can imagine. also the most unimaginable: pink, black, bright yellow, cream, blue, purple, snow-white.

Where do corals live?

Coral reefs only form in warm seas(V fresh water corals do not live) and only at the depth to which they penetrate sun rays. These are tropical and subtropical seas, mainly Indian and Pacific Oceans, Where average annual temperature water above + 26 degrees. But among the huge number of species of corals - and about 5-6000 species are known - there are also those that live in northern seas, such as Gersemia.

What are coral reefs like?

Coral reefs are divided into:

- fringing, coastal reefs located close to land
— atolls are entire coral islands, usually appearing near volcanoes
- barrier reef - a swell-shaped coral reef, between it and the shore there is a strait or lagoon.

The most famous and largest barrier reef is the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of the Australian mainland; in 1981 it was included in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List.

Who lives in coral reefs?

Do corals have healing properties?

IN folk medicine In many countries, coral powder is used for better healing of bones in case of fractures; many healers attribute tonic properties to it, properties to help with stress, improve memory, etc. They say that wearing coral beads can help with headaches and sore throats.

Who can wear coral products?

Products made from red corals are considered “masculine”, and those made from white corals are considered “feminine”. And it is highly discouraged to wear them backwards, so as not to acquire the characteristics of people of the opposite sex. Of the signs, corals are suitable for everyone except Leo and Cancer, according to most astrologers. In general, corals protect owners from violence and natural disasters and therefore they are considered suitable as a talisman for travelers. And in this case, the original question is no longer important: “Are corals animals or plants?” The main thing is that, according to the ancients, corals bestow long life, the Indians consider them to ward off evil spirits of fever, and the inhabitants of India, according to Pliny the Elder, generally valued them no less than pearls and attributed sacred properties to them.

Coral

Coral jewelry

Coral represents the skeletal material of the colony coral polyps. Large concentrations of coral form coral reefs and coral islands. The “growth” of corals is usually, even in favorable conditions, no more than 1 cm per year in the longitudinal direction, so the formation of an average reef can take centuries, while islands can take millennia.

Etymology

The Russian word “coral” comes from it. Koralle or Polish koral to lat. corallium, which, in turn, was borrowed from ancient Greek. κοράλλιον . Modern titles corals in eastern languages: Persian “bussad”, Armenian “bust”, Arabic “Mariam” and so on.

Chemical composition and properties

Application

There are over 3,500 varieties of corals known in nature, with a palette of up to 350 color shades. Corals are used as raw materials for producing lime, some types are used for making jewelry. In the latter case, black (akkabar), white and silver-pearl “angel skin”, and the most popular red and pink noble corals are especially valued.

Pink, red and black corals are considered the most valuable.

Notes

Literature

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Synonyms:

See what “Coral” is in other dictionaries:

Coral- (Nikolaev, Ukraine) Hotel category: Address: Admiral Makarova Street 22, Nikolaev, 54030, Ukraine ... Hotel catalog

Greek koralion, from koreo, decorate, and hals, sea. A genus of polyps that, when united, form branches, little by little filled with stony substance; Over time, the branches increase and the entire mass represents the appearance of a tree. The above... ... Dictionary foreign words Russian language

Polyp Dictionary of Russian synonyms. coral noun, number of synonyms: 30 agaricia (1) akori ... Dictionary of synonyms

coral- An animal belonging to the type Cnidarians; has a modified generational change with a predominance of the form of the attached polyp. Being a predator, the coral captures its prey using stinging cells. )