video
Cluster of Anthomastus Octocorals
This beautiful cluster of Anthomastus octocorals was observed during the third dive of the 2026 American Samoa ROV + Mapping Exploration expedition. These corals have very large polyps. When these polyps retract, the body of the coral shrinks down significantly to just a small ball in the middle. But we restrained ourselves and resisted the urge to poke the coral to see what would happen.