Stony Coral

Stony Coral

A significant part of a coral reef is made up of stony coral, also known as true coral (Latin name: Scleractina). The name stony coral comes from the hard external skeleton that made of hardened calcium carbonate which creates the outside of the coral, and feels a lot like stone.

There are two kinds of stony coral, the one found in the Maldives and other tropical waters is Colonial coral, and is very similar to sea anemones, but they have a hard outer skeleton. Some of the easiest-recognizable coral among scuba divers is stony coral. Examples of stony corals are branching corals, table corals and brain corals, known for their brain-like appearance.

The other kind of stony coral is Solitary coral. Solitary corals, as their name suggests, are individual corals that live alone and often float in the ocean. Colonial corals, on the other hand, are many different corals that grow together in colonies and form what many of us associate with a typical coral reef.