The Caribbean Fire Coral

Caribbean Fire Coral

Any diver who has handled fire coral knows where its “fire” descriptor comes from—the tiny barbs that produce a painful burning sensation. Calling this hydrozoan a coral, however, is a bit misleading—it’s more closely related to sea jellies. Fire corals can spread quickly across warm-water reefs, where they use their stinging polyps to persuade other animals not to grow on top of them.

(source:google/http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/)