Hawaiian Corals Choose Algae to Survive

Corals live symbiotically with a variety of microscopic algae that provide most of the energy corals require, and some algae can make coral more resilient to heat stress. In assessing one of the main reef builders in Hawaiʻi, Montipora capitata or rice coral, researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa found that the symbiont community in those corals varied significantly in different parts of Kāneʻohe Bay.