The aforementioned research group demonstrated that the expulsion of
zooxanthellae at 27 °C (non-thermal stress conditions) is part of a regulatory mechanism that maintains zooxanthellal density and a stable carbon concentration with expulsion of digested or normal forms of symbionts.
«Corals live in a symbiotic relationship with
zooxanthellae, which are plant - like cells hosted in surface tissues that provide up to 90 % of the energy to the colony,» said Stephen Simpson, a marine biologist
at the University of Exeter in the UK, commenting on the study.