aninjaatemyshoe
New member
I'm not sure how many other people have thought much on this, but does anyone know how long corals actually live? Are they "immortal" like sponges, or do they reach senescence and die?
Lifespan of corals
- Thread starter aninjaatemyshoe
- Start date
I'm pretty sure most will just keep growing and growing under perfect conditions. But even in the wild something can and will statistically happen. I know that there are several large Porites corals off the GBR that are thought to be well over 800 to 1000 years old. Just an example, I'm sure someone will chime in.
IPT
Active member
I guess it depends on the specices. I'm sure some of the big cloanies live forever in a sense. As it builds probably some of the lower polyps die but the higher newer polyps are probably thriving with new ones budding all the time. Without disease or catastrophy I see no reason they couldn't "grow" for ever.
MCsaxmaster
New member
Some appear to be theoretically immortal. Some appear to senesce and supposedly the genes for senescense have been found in some corals.
Once they actuall reach a size where we can see them, most corals on Pacific reefs live a decade or two, though they can theoretically live much longer. On those same reefs it is not at all uncommon to find corals that are many decades or even a few centuries old. Rarely corals may survive to be several centuries old or even over 1000 years. Typically massive Porites and Diploastraea are the corals that will live to be very, very old.
In the Caribbean the corals tend to be a bit longer lived and the average age is likely a few decades. Montastraea spp., which are major reef-builders in the Caribbean, regularly get to be hundreds of years old. Some of the other major reef-builders like Diploria spp., Colpophyllia natans, etc. can get to be very old as well. Acropora in the Caribbean can likely live quite a long time as well, though most of them are dead nowadays.
On the other end of the spectrum, Favia fragum never gets that big. Most are the size of a golf ball or smaller--a size they can reach in a few years--and only rarely will you find one as big as a baseball. Why don't they live a long time and get very big like their relatives? I couldn't say, but nonetheless you'll never find big F. fragum in the field like you will with other Caribbean faviids.
Once they actuall reach a size where we can see them, most corals on Pacific reefs live a decade or two, though they can theoretically live much longer. On those same reefs it is not at all uncommon to find corals that are many decades or even a few centuries old. Rarely corals may survive to be several centuries old or even over 1000 years. Typically massive Porites and Diploastraea are the corals that will live to be very, very old.
In the Caribbean the corals tend to be a bit longer lived and the average age is likely a few decades. Montastraea spp., which are major reef-builders in the Caribbean, regularly get to be hundreds of years old. Some of the other major reef-builders like Diploria spp., Colpophyllia natans, etc. can get to be very old as well. Acropora in the Caribbean can likely live quite a long time as well, though most of them are dead nowadays.
On the other end of the spectrum, Favia fragum never gets that big. Most are the size of a golf ball or smaller--a size they can reach in a few years--and only rarely will you find one as big as a baseball. Why don't they live a long time and get very big like their relatives? I couldn't say, but nonetheless you'll never find big F. fragum in the field like you will with other Caribbean faviids.
MCsaxmaster
New member
Well, I suppose the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, if the primary polyp survives as long as the colony. In a colony all of the polyps are genetically the same as all the others and in most corals the polyps remain attached via tissue over the coenosarc. While an individual polyp could certainly be detached and grow into another colony, therefore allowing us to think of it as an individual, the entire colony is grown from a single planula, thus we could just as easily think of the colony as an individual.
For example, if we look at the age of a plant (e.g., a tree) we'd want to know how long ago it sprouted from a seed. While we can make cuttings of most plants and successfully grow a new plant we probably wouldn't consider a new branch from a tree, or a leaf from a plant a new individual. It can be made to grow into another entity, but it is most certainly a part of the original individual.
Thus, for corals that are colonial and maintain tissue connections, I'd think of the entire colony as an individual with many mouths, though any one of those pieces is in fact capable of producing a new colony.
So, when we talk about the age of a coral, usually we would mean how long ago it settled as a larva and started growing.
cj
luke.varga
New member
Colonies of some Acropora and Pocillopora species when they reach their adult size do not live longer than 4-5 years.
Carnavor180
In Memoriam
lots of corals collected should be left in the ocean, only ones that are proven good in captivity should be colected.
aninjaatemyshoe
New member
Carnavor, how is that at all related to what we're talking about?
OF COURSE IT'S RELATED!
if something is going to live for a thousand years in the wild, or two weeks in your tank, what sort of selfish individual would want to take it?
the lifespan of corals is directly related to their environment... that's why global warming is such a big issue.
in 50 years this conversation coul go...
"what's the lifespan of corals in the wild"?
"corals live in the wild"?
see my point
How much does an anemone contribute to the bioload?
How much does an anemone contribute to the bioload?
On the anemone/clownfish forum, someone asked a question regarding whether an anemone would contribute to the bioload. Assuming an anemone is healthy and fully colonized with zooxanthellae, how much of a contribution would you expect an anemone to make to the bioload. Most aquarists direct feed their anemones, and I just wonder what percentage of the food biproduct (ammonia) is utilized by the zooxanthellae. I'm confident that some of the ammonia is released into the aquarium, but I also remember reading that the algae can also directly utilize some of the ammonia that is produced. Likewise, I understand that the zooxanthellae also use nitrates. Can anybody explain this a little better to me?
How much does an anemone contribute to the bioload?
On the anemone/clownfish forum, someone asked a question regarding whether an anemone would contribute to the bioload. Assuming an anemone is healthy and fully colonized with zooxanthellae, how much of a contribution would you expect an anemone to make to the bioload. Most aquarists direct feed their anemones, and I just wonder what percentage of the food biproduct (ammonia) is utilized by the zooxanthellae. I'm confident that some of the ammonia is released into the aquarium, but I also remember reading that the algae can also directly utilize some of the ammonia that is produced. Likewise, I understand that the zooxanthellae also use nitrates. Can anybody explain this a little better to me?
aninjaatemyshoe
New member
This is just asinine. The point that was made was in no relation the question. Not only that, it was a generic one sentence response. I didn't ask the question to delve into an ethical discussion on reef keeping, I asked it because I was unsure of the biology. I'm sorry to the others that find this kind of discussion important (I do as well), but personally I see it as a hijack. Using the same logic, one could bring up this discussion in just about every thread on this entire site. Just because it is important doesn't mean that it is relevant.
greenbean36191
Premium Member
Is there something in particular you would like to know more about?
I remember diving at either Belize or Cozumel where I swam next to a closed brain coral/colony that was about the size and shape of a VW bug (car), and I wondered how old it was.
I've also seen purple barrel sponges that were about the size and shape of a 60 gallon garbage can. And what's inside at the bottom of those big barrels? Often, it's a bristle star or two.
I saw some very large soft corals in Fiji. The largest that I saw was when we were on a dive site that was essentially undiscovered a month prior and it was hidden/protected within a small cave/swim-through. It was bright orange, it's trunk was about a foot in diameter, and it stood about 4 feet tall and almost as wide. I have video of it somewhere.
I also have video of my wife swimming next to two different gorgonian fans that are each near 7 feet wide and tall.
I've also seen purple barrel sponges that were about the size and shape of a 60 gallon garbage can. And what's inside at the bottom of those big barrels? Often, it's a bristle star or two.
I saw some very large soft corals in Fiji. The largest that I saw was when we were on a dive site that was essentially undiscovered a month prior and it was hidden/protected within a small cave/swim-through. It was bright orange, it's trunk was about a foot in diameter, and it stood about 4 feet tall and almost as wide. I have video of it somewhere.
I also have video of my wife swimming next to two different gorgonian fans that are each near 7 feet wide and tall.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
This is a very interesting thread. I suppose that there is actually very little research done on this subject? I too would like to hear more about what is known.
MCsaxmaster
New member
On most developed reefs you can find corals in excess of 400-500 years old. Really, really old corals can be found here and there in most any region.
I mean, consider the growth rates of a head coral and consider that you can often find massive corals the size of cars on many if not most reefs. If a colony of Montastraea faveolata (Mountainous Star coral, Caribbean) is a good 5 m across and has a linear extension rate of typically a few mm per year, assuming it is extending in all directions, it will take it at least 300 years to reach 5 m across, probably more like 500 years+. Branching corals normally grow much, much faster, but a single colony may occupy a huge space. You used to be able to find stands of Acropora cervicornis covering hundreds of square meters all over the Caribbean. There aren't many places that is still true, but nonetheless those stands may have been produced by corals that settled as planulae many centuries and even millenia hence.
If you go to really deep stretches on a coral reef (say 100 m down) some of the very large gorgonians and such will be on the order of thousands of years old. Some cold-water corals like Lophelia pertusa can live to be thousands of years old as well. Many of these animals do not senesce, and if nothing kills them they just keep on living and growing.
Chris
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