Mr. Mound Coral is one of the many aquatic characters of Octonauts. He first appeared in Octonauts and the Great Barrier Reef in the musical special, singing about troubles on the reef.

This male character was seen as a purple mound with green tentacles who looks a little bit hostile, but Mr. Mound Coral is just concerned about protecting his space on the Great Barrier Reef. In real life, Mr. Mound Coral does exist, and he can be found around the world!

Image Source: Octonauts Fandom Wiki & SaltWaterAquarium Blog

According to Ocean, corals, like Mr. Mound Coral, are related to sea anemones because they share the same simple structure called a polyp. This polyp is like an open tin can on one end. The opened mouth is surrounded by a ring of stinging tentacles called nematocysts. These structures help the coral capture tiny organisms for food.

Specifically, Mr. Mound Coral is part of the Favia corals, which are massive, rounded, or flat in appearance. Their septa are slightly wide and irregularly spaced, and they have paliform lobes that are poorly developed. Also, under the category of corals, there are large polyp stony corals with a stony skeleton and large fleshy polyps. Their stony structures are made mostly of calcium carbonate.

These large polyp stony corals, also called LPS, have a coral sweeper tentacle that is several times longer than its longest feeding tentacle. It packs a powerful stinging nematocyst punch at the end, which is helpful to protect itself. Sometimes, this appendage is called sweepers since the corals sweep them back and forth to look for something to sting. These unlucky creatures in the vicinity may receive damage or be killed by the coral’s sting. This tactic is one way for corals to secure their place on the reef and prevent themselves from being out-competed by their neighbors. However, there is a theory that corals release their sweepers as a sign of distress or stress relief. They may not have a brain but encoded in their genes that they have to do this for survival.

In addition, corals that can be seen together in ocean habitats are called coral reefs. They provide a large part of the Earth’s biodiversity, and they are sometimes called rainforests of the sea. They provide nurseries for fishes where they can grow. In the current times, it is saddening that coral reefs are at risk of disappearance in some parts of the world because of climate change.