Coral Dissection || Islands Under Fire

NOTE: This video was filmed before the coronavirus pandemic, and thus advocates for measures like carpooling and taking public transportation. During these unprecedented times, we want to urge our viewers to maintain public health guidelines and practice social distancing. There are still steps we can take to save coral: urge representatives to take action on climate change, reduce plastic waste, and share the message with others.

Are coral animals or plants? Find out as you learn coral anatomy in this video. This video is a bit different from the others in that there’s no actual dissection involved, but you’ll still learn various parts of its anatomy, how corals grow, and why they are in grave danger.

Coral is a vital component of our global ecosystem because they are an incredibly important natural habitat for marine life. Also, did you know that coral live in tiny “apartments”? In this video, you’ll learn general information about coral, which will be tied into its anatomical structures and physiological importance.

This dissection lab is for anyone who is curious about coral anatomy, wants to cover coral anatomy for a zoology course, missed the coral dissection during biology class, or just wondered, “Is coral a plant?”

In this video, we’ll cover the following structures:

Polyp

Nematocysts

If you want to learn more about coral anatomy, here’s a link to a website with more detailed information, as well as diagrams:

https://coral.org/coral-reefs-101/cor...

If you have any questions regarding coral anatomy, dissection methodology, or general biology, feel free to leave a comment. We'll try our best to reply.