Are corals animals or plants?

Corals are tiny invertebrate animals that live in colonies. Each coral animal is called a polyp.

How fast do corals grow?

Corals grow very slowly, some may grow at a rate of 6 inches per year. As older corals die, new ones settle and grow over the old ones in layers. Corals are easily damaged, take care not to touch coral as you snorkel.

How can I tell a juvenile from an adult conch?

Adult conch have a thick well formed flared lip, as  a conch ages its lip becomes thicker. It is illegal to harvest juvenile conch.

What do conch feed upon?

Conch are herbivores, they feed on algae which they scrape from blades of turtle grass.

How long to do conch take to reach sexual maturity?

Conch take three and a half to five years to reach sexual maturity.

Is there a King conch?

The common name of the conch eaten in The Bahamas is the Queen conch, both males and females are queen conch? The scientific name of the Queen conch is Strombus gigas.

Do Nassau grouper change sex as they mature?

Nassau grouper do not change sex as they mature. However, other grouper species change from females to males as they age, so that larger fish are usually male. This is called sequential hermaphroditism.

When do Nassau grouper spawn?

Nassau grouper form aggregations (groups) of thousands of fish to spawn during the winter months (November to March) around the full moon. It is illegal to catch Nassau grouper during the closed season of December 1, 2006 - February 28, 2007.

What fish species form reproductive aggregations?

Snappers and groupers also form aggregations to spawn. Fishing on a spawning aggregation is not a wise idea, because fish will be removed from the population before they can successfully reproduce. This will result in a decline in fish numbers.