Corals` partnership with microalgae helps in stressful times but there`s a trade-off
(PHYSorg.com Biology)

In the warmer and brighter shallow waters of Kane`ohe Bay, O`ahu, the Hawaiian rice coral (Montipora capitata) hosts more heat-tolerant symbiotic microalgae in their tissues compared to corals in deeper waters. This pattern was demonstrated in a recent study by scientists at the University of Hawai`i (UH) at Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), and they suggest that while this can help corals weather a heat wave, it may have a price-lower nutrition when the heat wave has passed and seawater temperatures cool down.