Watch coral reefs ‘eat’ using conveyer belts made of mucus

Coral reefs are a paradise, both for divers and wildlife: They provide a home or a feeding ground for nearly one-quarter of all life in the ocean. But exactly how coral nourishes itself has long been a mystery. Scientists have struggled to understand how coral, which is made up of thousands of immobile, genetically identical polyps, shares and regulates resources among its many parts.

To investigate, researchers coated 14 species of coral—10 in the lab and four in the wild—with tiny fluorescent beads, which are each smaller than a pinhead and glow under light-emitting diode light. The illuminated beads helped the scientists track how water and particles circulated around the polyps . The researchers performed the same experiment on dead corals as controls.

Next, the scientists analyzed their recordings with a computer program that tracked how the polyps transported the glowing beads. The fluorescent tracers showed that corals, including the purple, work together like laborers on an assembly line to move water through branching currents on their surfaces and within the folds that connect individual polyps.

Isn't that how everyone eats?

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