Corals are tiny organisms that on average are about 10 millimeters wide, very colorful, and are widespread along Florida’s coast. Despite popular belief that corals are plants or rocks, they are considered animals! Coral is comprised of colonies, made up of thousands of coral polyps that create the structures that we have all come to recognize as one of the world's most important ecosystems. These tiny polyps are the animal part of the corals, and they share a lot of the same characteristics as sea anemones, as they have tiny tentacles that sting like jellyfish and can be used to fight off other corals for space or to catch planktonic organisms to eat.

Corals have a mutualistic relationship with a type of algae known as zooxanthellae because this algae which uses the coral as a place to make a home undergoes what is known as photosynthesis. This photosynthesis is important for the corals as the byproducts of it are what feed the corals. This algae is also what makes our corals so vibrant and colorful, and despite how wonderful that is, it also acts as the coral’s UV protection since their shallow water homes are usually susceptible to high UV exposure. It is important to note, however, that there are species of corals that live in 200-10,000 feet of water and typically lack that mutualistic relationship with zooxanthellae and will often be white in color because sunlight does not reach these depths.