Do corals have a lifespan?

[KirbyBTF]

Does a single polyp of any coral, lets say 1 head of frogspawn, have a life span? If I kept the same head and fragged off any other growth, kept that one specific head in perfect water conditions and perfect lighting how long would it "live"? In theory...forever? As long as the zooxanthelae kept repopulating, and it got enough nutrition, what reason would it have to perish?

Just a thought that came to me while I should have been working.

 

[RedStangGA]

Yes. Mine live right up until I do something to kill them lol!

In all seriousness though I don't think they do but I'm certainly no expert.

 

[Allmost]

corals can live forever in theory.

unless they get killed, or something eats it.

there are reports of corals over 4000 years old !

 

[PatW]

Corals are colonies. They are made up of collections of individuals, the individual polyps. So, like cities or nations corals have a potential to live forever. And like cities and nations, they probably will not live forever.

 

[Fishtitious Per]

Corals are colonies. They are made up of collections of individuals, the individual polyps. So, like cities or nations corals have a potential to live forever. And like cities and nations, they probably will not live forever.

Well said! I will ponder and enjoy that reflective insight as this individual polyp returns to his task of maintaining his citystate.

 

[JohnniG]

Good read, ty

 

[Zacktosterone]

corals can live forever in theory.

unless they get killed, or something eats it.

there are reports of corals over 4000 years old !

i believe that number

 

[KirbyBTF]

So, there is no physical deterioration of tissue on polyps? Compare it to our skin, as we get older our skin wrinkles. Given enough time the tissue would begin to deteriorate, or become more liable to damage. Is there any proof this happens/doesn't happen to the tissue on a coral? Will the skeleton breakdown after so many years on the reef/in our tanks? Even if it is thousands of years, I'd love to get some insight from some professionals up in here.

 

[GhostCon1]

Nothing lives forever due to the degradation of telomerase in DNA. This is what causes us to die, eventually what makes you you is just too old to continue dividing and replicating.

Yes, some things live amazingly long lives, but there are very few "immortal" animals. The only one that most of us would know is the immortal jellyfish. It is only capable of doing this because its body reverts back to the polyp stage of its life cycle. We really don't understand much of how this works, but are working hard to decode it and apply it to ourselves. Imagine being able to revert back to a baby and... Actually I don't want to go back that far lol

Also, most all corals that are thousands of years old? From everything I have read, those are clones of the long gone mother polyp. Coral skeletons can be thousands of years old because that's CaCO3, just limestone.

 

[Allmost]

as you mentioned, how about the immortal jellyfish ? so the 1st line about nothing lives forever is false.

also, there are alot of studies, showing Anemones do not age. they are immortal. that does not mean they wont die, or that they wont be eaten.

link to 4K years old coral :
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090324091209.htm

immortal jelly :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_dohrnii

good read :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negligible_senescence

Our good friend, flatworms :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ve-forever--long-flatworm-say-scientists.html

 

[GhostCon1]

I will still hold to what I said before and point out that I said "immortal" with quotations around it because based on what the OP asked, biological immortality and negligible senescence are not related to their question.

In regards to the flatworms, I find it funny none of my professors never mentioned that as I find that fascinating,

"Based on the carbon 14, the living polyps are only a few years old, or at least their carbon 14 is, but they have been continuously replaced for centuries to millennia while accreting their underlying skeleton."

Which is pretty much what I said, just with more a bit more detail.