Animal Encyclopedia Category: Corals and Other Invertebrates

The grooved brain coral is named for its appearance. It looks amazingly like a human brain and has particularly deep grooves that resemble the brain’s folds. In deeper waters, it can even have a grayish appearance. It is a large, reef-building coral that lives throughout the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters. The grooves may also … Read more

The largest known specimen of giant clam was over four and a half feet (1.3 m) wide and weighed approximately 550 pounds (250 kg). The large majority of a giant clam’s mass is in its shell, with the soft parts accounting for only approximately 10% of the weight. Like most corals, some anemones, and other reef organisms, … Read more

Like most corals and several other anemones, giant carpet anemones utilize a combination of methods to obtain food. The majority of their energy is derived from symbiotic algae living within their cells, providing the anemones with excess energy that they make via photosynthesis (the use of sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into food/energy). In return, the algae … Read more

The giant Caribbean sea anemone is a large anemone that lives on coral reefs throughout the Caribbean Sea. It is a predatory species and has the ability to move (by crawling very slowly), in order to reduce competition with nearby individuals or to increase the likelihood of successful reproduction This anemone is predatory and feeds … Read more

The giant barrel sponge is a large sponge that lives on coral reefs around the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters. Reaching sizes of at least 6 feet (1.8 m) across, this is one of the largest sponge species wherever it lives. Its bowl-shaped body (open at the top, closed at the base) provides habitat for … Read more

The elkhorn coral is named for the antler-like shape of its colonies. It is a fast growing species and is one of the most important reef-building species in the Caribbean. It was formerly one of the most common corals on reefs throughout its range. Today, it is very rare and is considered critically endangered by … Read more

Wherever it lives, the cockscomb cup coral builds reefs that provide habitat for several other species of invertebrates and fishes. In some areas, this species can be the most common coral on reefs. Typically, this coral is found on deep seamounts and other deep-sea habitats, but some populations have recently been discovered thriving much shallower in productive … Read more

Though the moon jelly lives throughout the epipelagic zone, it is most commonly found near the coast and in upwelling areas, where its prey occurs in higher concentrations. This species is not a very strong swimmer, so they are often found on beaches after strong storms or tides that push them onshore. Along with other jellies, moon … Read more

Wherever it lives, the lophelia coral builds structure that provides habitat for many kinds of invertebrates and fishes. Some lophelia coral reefs can be enormous, stretching for several miles and rising to at least 100 feet (30 m) above the seafloor. Lophelia coral reefs of this size may be tens of thousands of years old. Individual living lophelia … Read more

Shallow-water populations are known to have symbiotic algae living within their cells, providing the corals with excess energy that they make via photosynthesis (the use of sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into food/energy). Nearly all species of shallow-water corals and several other groups of reef invertebrates have symbiotic relationships with these algae. On deep reefs, however, there … Read more