Bleaching colony of elliptical star coral, Dichocoenia stokesii
Bleaching colony of elliptical star coral, Dichocoenia stokesiiBleaching colony of elliptical star coral, Dichocoenia stokesii, Florida Keys. When corals are stressed, the symbiosis between the coral animal and its photosynthetic algal symbionts (zooxanthellae) breaks down and the zooxanthellae are expelled from the coral tissue.