 The polyp is the major life form of the coral. It can reproduce in two different ways. In sexual reproduction, the polyp releases eggs and sperm which fuse to form a zygote. The zygote develops into a planula, and the planula lives in the surface part of the oceans and spreads out with ocean currents before it falls to the bottom of the ocean and colonizes a hard substrate, forming a new coral colony. The second type of reproduction by the polyp is called asexual reproduction. And in asexual reproduction, the polyp itself either buds, forms a new bud or divides, forms two separate polyps. And in this type of reproduction, this colony will then grow itself as opposed to forming a new colony via sexual reproduction.