The sea fan Paramuricea< sp. with the symbiotic brittle star Asteroschema< sp. from a site in the Garden Banks region of the Gulf of Mexico. This apparently healthy coral was observed during the first leg of the cruise at approximately 360 meters depth and over 450 km away from the site of the Deepwater Horizon.

Garden Banks

Image courtesy of Lophelia II 2010, NOAA OER and BOEMRE. Download image (jpg, 118 KB).

Sea fan Paramuricea sp. with the symbiotic brittle star Asteroschema sp. from a site in the Garden Banks region of the Gulf of Mexico.