Underwater scene with yellow-brown branching coral and an attached pinkish organism on a dark gray rocky seafloor.
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Aplacophoran
This black coral (Stauropathes) covered an unusual individual that shoreside and shipboard scientists had difficulty identifying from the video. The organism was collected and upon recovery, tentatively identified as a large aplacophoran (shell-less mollusk), covered in spicules that give it a “fuzzy” appearance. It was collected during Dive 16 of the Papahānaumokuākea ROV and Mapping expedition at a depth of 1,879 meters (6,165 feet).
Credit

NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2025 Beyond the Blue