Do Colonies Share Food?

[Marco S]

I just saw my Aussie Gold Torch grab a huge chunk of LRS Herbivore Frenzy when I was feeding my fish this morning and it got me wondering. Does a colony share food it grabs or is every head selfish and just feed itself? Also if one head eats something, does the whole colony get the benefits or just that head?

Here is a pic I took right after my Torch grabbed the chunk of food. I tried to get it when it was visible but it sucked it in extremely quick...

 

[Hermie]

my theory/understanding is that colonies do share food, but logically, if one head is catching more food, then the colony would want to increase growth at that polyp because it wants to reward good "growth" like a feedback circle. So if you feed one polyp/head, it will grow faster than all the others.

 

[Mr Fishface]

Great question! I had this same question when it came to my duncan coral. I started with one head and it started to grow around 8 more around the base. I kept feeding my main head and decided to try target feeding one or two of the small heads as well. I can say that the heads I did target feed, even just one or two times, are much larger then the non fed heads at this point (about a month since I first fed). It's hard for me to know if the heads are absorbing nutrients independently or, like mentioned above, the colony simply grows the more productive parts.

 

[SunshineNinja]

As long as the polyps are connected by a coenosarc they will share nutrients. The coenosarc is the connective tissue shared by the colony. Pic from the internet to give you an idea of what it looks like:

 

[Marco S]

As long as the polyps are connected by a coenosarc they will share nutrients. The coenosarc is the connective tissue shared by the colony. Pic from the internet to give you an idea of what it looks like:

That's a great pic! Thanks for sharing!