In
, the
coenosarc is the living tissue overlying the stony skeletal material of the coral. It secretes the
coenosteum, the layer of skeletal material lying between the
(the stony cups in which the polyps sit). The coenosarc is composed of
mesogloea between two thin layers of
epidermis and is continuous with the body wall of the polyps.
The coenosarc contains the gastrovascular canal system that links the polyps and allow them to share nutrients and symbiotic
zooxanthellae.
