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"Why" may be a deeper question than can be answered?
But if you search "coral recruitment" - the process by which a polyp selects where to live and then changes from planktonic to sessile, attaches and grows - that research is all about biofilms, surfaces, coralline algae, and the bacteria associated with the various surfaces. The coral polyps have strong preferences of what they like and don't like - and those preferences have big effects on the survival rates.
just a sampling of two abstracts for flavor...
Thanks. We can always rely on you to find interesting stuff.
OK what about after the larvae settle? In our case, what does a piece of coral flesh care about what biofilm is on the piece of ceramic it is glued to?