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Some coral "walk" towards blue or white light, using rolling, sliding or pulsing movements to migrate, per experiments with free-living mushroom coral Cycloseris cyclolites

01.22.25 | PLOS

Walking coral: Complex phototactic mobility in the free-living coral Cycloseris cyclolites

High-definition macro DSLR images documenting the complex tissue behavior as C. cyclolites moves toward the blue source light (480nm). Credit: Lewis et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Some coral "walk" towards blue or white light, using rolling, sliding or pulsing movements to migrate, per experiments with free-living mushroom coral Cycloseris cyclolites

Article URL : https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0315623

Article title: Walking coral: Complex phototactic mobility in the free-living coral Cycloseris cyclolites

Author countries: Australia, Saudi Arabia

Funding: The authors declare the research was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project (DP1096184). APC support was received by QUT to aid in publication. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

PLOS One

10.1371/journal.pone.0315623

Walking coral: Complex phototactic mobility in the free-living coral Cycloseris cyclolites

22-Jan-2025

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Additional Media

Super high-resolution time-lapse, captured using an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II camera with a 60mm lens, showing passive mobility in C. cyclolites. The local water currents cause the coral to roll over the substrate. Credit: Lewis et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

High-resolution time-lapse (4K), captured using an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III with a 60mm lens, demonstrating the detailed biomechanics of pulsed inflation mobility in C. cyclolites. The video shows the inflation of peripheral tissues and the twisting and contraction of lateral tissues, which collectively drive the coral’s forward movement in a manner similar to jellyfish swimming. Credit: Lewis et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Keywords

Animals Coral Life Sciences Organismal Biology

Article Information

Journal

PLOS One

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0315623

Article Publication Date

2025-01-22

Article Title

Walking coral: Complex phototactic mobility in the free-living coral Cycloseris cyclolites

COI Statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Contact Information

Hanna Abdallah

PLOS

onepress@plos.org

How to Cite This Article

APA:

PLOS. (2025, January 22). Some coral "walk" towards blue or white light, using rolling, sliding or pulsing movements to migrate, per experiments with free-living mushroom coral Cycloseris cyclolites. Brightsurf News. https://www.brightsurf.com/news/LDE6JJG8/some-coral-walk-towards-blue-or-white-light-using-rolling-sliding-or-pulsing-movements-to-migrate-per-experiments-with-free-living-mushroom-coral-cycloseris-cyclolites.html

MLA:

"Some coral "walk" towards blue or white light, using rolling, sliding or pulsing movements to migrate, per experiments with free-living mushroom coral Cycloseris cyclolites." Brightsurf News, Jan. 22 2025, https://www.brightsurf.com/news/LDE6JJG8/some-coral-walk-towards-blue-or-white-light-using-rolling-sliding-or-pulsing-movements-to-migrate-per-experiments-with-free-living-mushroom-coral-cycloseris-cyclolites.html.