Think of coral, and you probably envision a reef lying motionless on the ocean floor. But the mesmerizing time-lapse video above, along with the still images below, remind us that reefs are created by the ceaseless activity of tiny animals called polyps .

Barcelona-based photographer Antonio Rodriguez Canto created the video by combining more than 25,000 separate macro photos of various coral species (though marine biologists The Huffington Post consulted say the videos last two segments feature a giant clam and a tube worm rather than coral polyps).