What are corals? Although they are easily confused with plants or rocks, corals are invertebrate animals. They can be solitary, colony-forming or reef-forming! They belong to the phylum Cnidarians. Group that emerged more than 500 million years ago. They are related to: Anemones, jellyfish, sea wasps, hydras and caravels. How do corals feed? Each coral has a mouth and tentacles around it, the only moving structures on its body, which help it capture its prey. They are carnivores, feeding on small zooplankton organisms. But for some, the main source of nutrition comes through their relationship with tiny algae called zooxanthellae, which live protected within their tissues and give them their color. These microalgae carry out photosynthesis, transforming light energy into chemical energy. The products of this process increase the growth rate of corals due to supplementation. How do corals reproduce? Do corals have more than one way of reproduction? Sexual, in which a colony can have organisms of both sexes (female and male), which release their gametes for fertilization in the water, generating larvae called planulae, which are carried by the current until they settle and become small polyps, juvenile corals also called recruits. Asexual, through fragmentation, when a coral is "broken", due to environmental factors or human activities and this fragment gives rise to a new coral. There is also budding, when a coral generates a bud, releasing it into the environment to settle, forming a polyp and, in the future, a new colony. The importance of corals: Coral reefs are home to about 25% of the planet's marine biodiversity. They are known as “the tropical forests of the ocean”, they function as large condominiums that house thousands of marine animals and offer them an ideal place for reproduction, food and protection. In addition to playing a fundamental role for marine life, corals are also essential for human life: they function as natural barriers that protect coastal cities from the action of large waves, favor tourism, generate food and livelihood for various communities, in addition to being a source of raw material for the production of medicines.