A bamboo coral and other suspension feeders grow on a rocky outcrop at 1630 meters depth.

A colony of the bamboo coral Acanella (orange-colored bush on left) shares a large rocky outcrop with other suspension feeders, including a sponge, a sea lily (yellow stalk in lower right), and sea cucumber (red body with white feeding tentacles in center) at 1630 meters depth. Currents move faster as you move away from the bottom, and suspension feeders take advantage of changes in bottom topography to get into these faster flows. Image Courtesy of the Deep Atlantic Stepping Stones Science Party, IFE , URI-IAO, and NOAA.

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