Experienced hobbyists are well aware of the delicate nature of the soft tissue that constitutes the living coral polyp, particularly in the case of stony corals. Inspection of a bare stony coral skeleton often reveals a very convoluted and sharp structure; when coral tissue is inadvertently pressed against such a structure, the resulting local tissue damage can create an entry way for infection and/or infestation by organisms that would otherwise be combated by the coral’s immune system. Physical damage to coral tissue is not an uncommon event during shipping and/or handling, and is an unavoidable result of fragmenting when the cutting site is not bare skeleton (again, in the case of a stony coral; cutting soft corals and polyps will always result in tissue damage). A colony or individual may also experience stress as a matter of changing chemical or physical conditions in the aquarium, often leading to weakening of the immune system, with the afore-mentioned infection/infestation as a possible result.
