New cave-dwelling reef coral discovered in the Indo-Pacific
Thursday, October 11, 2012 - 09:00
in Biology & Nature
A new species of reef coral is discovered, which lives on the ceilings of dark caves. Its closest relatives are larger, have symbiotic algae in their soft tissue and need sunlight to grow. The new species lacks such algae and its tissue is colorless. When other reef coral species lose their algae, they may die, a recurring disease known as coral bleaching.