The paper "Biological and chemical characteristics of the coral gastric cavity. S. Agostini, Y. Suzuki, T. Higuchi, B.E. Casareto, K. Yoshinaga, Y. Nakano, H. Fujimura. Coral Reefs 31:147-156" was voted the best paper of the year 2012. Coral Reefs is a journal published by the International Society for Reef Studies. It presents multidisciplinary literature across the broad fields of reef studies, publishing analytical and theoretical papers on both modern and ancient reefs. In this paper we reported the results found in our extensive study of the characteristics of the coral gastric cavity. Using original methodologies, we highlighted the specific chemistry and prokaryotic community found in the coral gut and concluded on their importance for the maintenance of coral health.