Parasitic Coral

Parasitic coral is an offshoot of the vent coral species, semi-artificially created due to attempts to increase local populations of vent coral in parts of the whirlpool reefs. Where vent coral takes nutrients from the water around it, mutations in its genetic code caused parasitic coral to become sensitive to the intake of water. Rather than using its intake tube to gather water, this species learned to attach to other species of coral, stealing nutrients from them. It is incredibly annoying to coralite kuuyikar who either make their dwellings from coral, or who keep corals as decoration.

Anatomy

Parasitic coral is small and greyish-blue in colour, almost looking similar to a barnacle. It attaches to other corals near the ocean floor, or inside cracks and crevices, in order to protect itself from harsh water currents. It attaches to the coral via multiple spiked appendages that can be likened to teeth, which will twist once attached to make removal incredibly difficult. Removing parasitic coral from another coral without the proper tools and techniques can thus cause damage to chunks of the coral. In order to obtain nutrients, the parasitic coral will excrete a strong acid once it has attached, which dissolves the exterior of the coral it is attached to. When the coral regrows, it repeats this process, digesting the coral as soon as it is able to regrow. This often causes the coral to expend extra energy trying to repair the part of its exterior that is being damaged by the parasitic coral, which does not have too much of a negative impact when only one parasitic coral is attached, but can cause larger problems for the coral if it is hosting multiple parasitic corals.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Vent Coral

Geographic Distribution

• Whirlpool Reefs