Corals play an essential role in providing habitats to other marine organisms that are found living in reef ecosystems. Their complex 3D tertiary structures offer suitable homes for a diverse range of creatures of all sizes. Corals also provide an important food source to several organisms that feed on their polyps or the mucus that they secrete. These reef builders are essential components required for reef ecosystems to thrive and play an extremely important role in promoting species richness and biodiversity on all coral reefs across the globe.

In the last 100 years, corals have been exposed to numerous threats, many of which have been associated with increased anthropogenic activity. As a result, corals across the world have frequently shown signs of stress with several areas around the world seeing a mass reduction in coral cover. This has called for the need to conserve these essential reef builders if we are to save the existence of our coral reefs.