What are corals? Name and describe the island group which is of coral origin.

Corals are marine invertebrates in the class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria. Coral comprises reef which secretes calcium carbonate to form hard skeletons. They are the most important groups of the island and inhabit tropical oceans. There are two types of corals- soft corals and stony corals.

Lakshadweep island group lies to the south-east of the Indian mainland. They are coral islands. They are in the Arabian Sea and smaller in size. They are collectively 36 islands. Earlier they were known as Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands. Minicoy is the largest and southernmost island of Lakshadweep. An eight-degree channel separates Lakshadweep and Maldives which is a neighbouring country of India.