What do the different types of corals eat?
In general corals (true corals/hard corals) are carnivorous and they will eat copepods. Depending on the size of their polyps they may eat brine or even mysis shrimp. While most are photosynthetic they do require a certain amount of food to obtain the required essential amino acids. Soft corals are, in general, herbivores and will feed on phytoplankton. However, some soft corals such as Xeniids have a non-functioing mouth and obtain all of their nutrients from the symbiotic zooxanthellae or absorb chemicals from the water column.
