It’s no secret that the animal kingdom is harsh. When it comes to survival, most non-human animals have to kill or be killed. When we think of animals competing for food and breeding rights, we typically envision beasts like lions and sharks duking it out. As it turns out, however, the same aggression extends itself across the animal kingdom, and it affects even the most innocent creatures, like coral.

We often forget that coral reefs are made up of living beings, and like all other animals, they must fight for space and resources. When breathing room is sparse, things start getting intense.

Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” is an axiom that affects almost every species, as you can see in the video below.

Sadly, we will probably never know which piece of coral from this footage came out on top. These battles can take quite a long time to play out.