Stony corals grow when individual polyps lift themselves up from the base of the stony cups in which they reside, and create a new base above it.

How fast do stony corals grow?

These corals grow in height at about one centimetre each year. Some branching coral species, such as staghorn corals, can grow up to 30 centimetres each year, while the porites (stony corals with finger-like structures) grow at an annual average of one to three millimetres.

Do stony corals reproduce by fission?

Stony Coral Reproduction These corals can reproduce both sexually and asexually. … Asexual reproduction occurs through splitting, in which a polyp splits into two, or budding when a new polyp grows out of the side of an existing polyp.