LAB

• Corals


  Invertebrate, marine, colonial animals
• Corals


  • Special type of algae aids in photosynthesis
  • Cup-like skeleton that serves as the polyps home
  • For defense, capturing prey and leading it to the mouth where food enters and wastes are expelled
  • Stinging cells
• Polyps


  Cup-like skeleton that serves as the polyps home
• Coral colonies


  • Can expand significantly throughout their lifetimes, as they keep growing as long as they live
  • Not only exist as living beings but also function as ecosystem builders
  • When numerous corals combine, they create reefs, which serve as essential habitats for various life forms
• Branching corals


  • Growing in a 'dendritic', or tree like, shape
  • Long, tapered branches with regular splitting
  • One of the fastest growing forms, as all of the polyps on a branch contribute to skeletal growth in a single direction
  • Commonly known as "crazy' branching
• Bushy corals


  • Irregular, dense, bushy like corals
  • Require strong sunlight and currents in order to grow
  • Provide very diverse and complex habitats for juvenile reef fish and invertebrates
• Plate corals


  • Thin, plate-like corals which grow along or over the existing substrate (they do not extend vertically)
  • Very effective at out-competing or overgrowing existing living substrate such as sponges and other corals
  • Very slow growing, but tend to be very resilient
  • Major contributor to the long-term, solid structure of the reefs, and live to be tens of thousands of years old
• Table corals


  • Large, table shaped corals which create very diverse habitat for both small fishes, and large fishes underneath
  • Generally made up of corals of the branching, corymbose, or digitate shapes, which grow horizontally at one depth, instead of increasing the height
• Vulnerable Philippine coral species

  • Brain Coral
  • Staghorn Corals
  • Mushroom Coral
  • Table Coral
  • Elkhorn Coral
  • Plate Coral
  • Lettuce Coral
• Climate change


  Rising sea temperatures can lead to coral bleaching, where corals expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, turning them white and leaving them vulnerable to disease and death
• Pollution


  Pollution from coastal development, agriculture, and urban runoff can introduce sediment, nutrients, and chemicals into coral reef ecosystems, leading to increased stress and susceptibility to diseases
• Overfishing


  Disrupts the balance of coral reef ecosystems by removing key species that help maintain the health of the reef
• Destructive fishing practices


  Practices such as blast fishing and the use of cyanide to capture fish not only directly damage corals but also degrade their habitat and make them more vulnerable to other stressors
• Staghorn coral


  • Antler-like structure resembling the horns of a stag
  • Typically grows in dense thickens with branches extending outward like antlers
  • Faces numerous threats including climate change, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, disease, pollution, and physical damage from human activities such as coastal development and unsustainable fishing practices
• Table coral


  • Also known as plate corals or table-top corals
  • Characterized by their flat, plate-like structures with horizontal surfaces
  • Vulnerable to sedimentation and physical damage from anchoring, boat groundings, and illegal fishing practices
• Brain coral


  • Looks like a brain, with a large, rounded shape and deep, meandering valleys and ridges
  • Composed of calcium carbonate, which provides the framework for their growth
  • Play a vital role in reef ecosystems by providing habitat and shelter for a variety of marine organisms, including fish, invertebrates, and other coral species
  • Currently facing declines in population due to the aforementioned threats
• Elkhorn coral


  • Characterized by its distinctive branching structure, which resembles the antlers of an elk
  • Primarily found in shallow, clear waters of tropical coral reef ecosystems, particularly in the Caribbean Sea and the western Atlantic Ocean
  • Listed as "threatened" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and is also classified as "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
• Mushroom coral


  • Has a soft, fleshy body with a smooth or wrinkled surface
• Brain Coral


  It looks like a brain, they have a large, rounded shape with deep, meandering valleys and ridges that give them a distinct appearance
• Brain Coral


  • Composed of calcium carbonate, which provides the framework for their growth
  • Play a vital role in reef ecosystems by providing habitat and shelter for a variety of marine organisms, including fish, invertebrates, and other coral species
  • Currently facing declines in population due to threats like sedimentation, pollution, and physical damage
• Elkhorn Coral


  Characterized by its distinctive branching structure, which resembles the antlers of an elk
• Elkhorn Coral


  • Primarily found in shallow, clear waters of tropical coral reef ecosystems, particularly in the Caribbean Sea and the western Atlantic Ocean
  • Listed as "threatened" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and classified as "critically endangered" by the IUCN
• Mushroom Coral


  • Have a soft, fleshy body with a smooth or wrinkled surface, often with a central mouth surrounded by tentacles
  • Contain toxins that they use for defense against predators
  • Come in a variety of colors, including shades of brown, green, red, orange, and purple
  • Vulnerable to physical damage from anchor drops, as well as coral bleaching and sedimentation
• Plate Coral


  • Have a distinct disc-shaped or plate-like structure, typically with a flat or slightly curved appearance, with a central mouth surrounded by tentacles
  • Primarily photosynthetic, obtaining energy from the photosynthesis of their symbiotic algae
  • Play an important role in coral reef ecosystems, providing habitat and shelter for a variety of marine organisms and contributing to reef biodiversity and resilience
  • Currently facing declines in population due to threats like sedimentation, pollution, and physical damage
• Lettuce Coral


  • Have leaf-like plates or sheets, resembling the shape of lettuce leaves
  • Primarily photosynthetic, obtaining energy from the photosynthesis of its symbiotic algae
  • Exhibit a range of colors, including shades of brown, green, yellow, and sometimes blue or purple
  • Vulnerable to sedimentation, pollution, and physical damage from anchoring and illegal fishing practices
• Mollusca


  Signifies a soft body, since the earliest descriptions of mollusks came from observations of unshelled cuttlefish
• Mollusks


  • Predominantly a marine group of animals, but also inhabit freshwater and terrestrial habitats
  • Display a wide range of morphologies in each class and subclass
  • Share key characteristics including a muscular foot, a visceral mass containing internal organs, and a mantle that may or may not secrete a shell of calcium carbonate
• Muscular Foot


  Used for locomotion and anchorage, varies in shape and function depending on the type of mollusk
• Visceral Mass


  Present above the foot, in the visceral hump, includes digestive, nervous, excretory, reproductive, and respiratory systems
• Mantle


  The dorsal epidermis in mollusks, shelled mollusks are specialized to secrete a chitinous and hard calcareous shell
• Classes of Molluscs


  • Aplacophora
  • Monoplacophora
  • Polyplacophora
  • Bivalvia
  • Gastropoda
  • Cephalopoda
  • Scaphopoda
• Aplacophora


  • Worm-like marine animals, no hard shell but have small aragonite spicules on their skin, basic body cavity, no eyes, tentacles, or excretory organs, found at the bottom of the ocean (benthic habitats)
• Monoplacophora


  • Single, cap-like shell enclosing the body, shell and body morphology can vary from circular to ovate, looping digestive system, multiple pairs of excretory organs, many gills, and paired gonads, thought to be extinct until Neopilina galathaea was found in 1952
• Polyplacophora


  • Known as "chitons", dorsal shell composed of eight overlapping plates, broad, ventral foot adapted for suction to rocks, mantle extends beyond the shell as a girdle, calcareous spines on the girdle for protection, found worldwide from cold waters to the tropics
• Bivalvia


  • Marine and freshwater mollusks, laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a two-part shell, include clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, and other families, the majority are filter feeders with no head or radula, gills evolved into ctenidia for feeding and breathing, bury in sediment, lie on the seabed, or attach to hard surfaces
• Gastropoda


  • Include snails, slugs, conchs, sea hares, and sea butterflies, some have shells, others have reduced shells, asymmetrical body shape with a coiled shell, shells may be planospiral or conispiral, visceral mass displays torsion around the perpendicular axis of the foot, foot modified for crawling, head with tentacles, eyes, and a style, complex radula for digestion and food ingestion, mantle cavity encloses ctenidia and nephridia
• Cephalopoda


  • Includes octopuses, squids, cuttlefish, and nautilus, some have shells, others have reduced shells, vivid coloration for camouflage, carnivorous predators with beak-like jaws, well-developed nervous system and eyes, mode of locomotion: tentacles and funnel for jet propulsion, ink production for defense mechanism, suckers on tentacles in octopuses and squids, closed circulatory system, mantle cavity with ctenidia and nephridia, siphonophores for water exchange, sexual dimorphism and unique reproduction process
• Scaphopoda


  • Also known as "tusk shells" or "tooth shells", buried in sand with anterior opening exposed to water, single conical shell open at both ends, rudimentary head protrudes from posterior end of shell, lack of eyes, presence of radula, foot modified into tentacles with bulbous ends called captaculae, habitat: buried in sand with water exposure
• The Philippines is home to breathtaking bodies of water that shelter well-known members of the phylum Mollusca
• Threats to molluscan species in the Philippines

  • Exploitation
  • Pollution
  • Habitat alteration or destruction
  • Introduced species
  • Over-collecting