This deep-sea coral garden at Swains Island hosts numerous species of corals and coral-relatives. In the foreground is a chrysogorgiid octocoral surrounded by translucent anemones. Yellow stony corals like Enallopsammia sp. are visible to the left and throughout the background. Black coral whip colonies grow upwards off the seafloor in thin stalks.
Deep-sea Coral Garden
Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Discovering the Deep: Exploring Remote Pacific MPAs. Download larger version (jpg, 1.4 MB).

This deep-sea coral garden at Swains Island hosts numerous species of corals and coral-relatives. In the foreground is a chrysogorgiid octocoral surrounded by translucent anemones. Yellow stony corals like Enallopsammia sp. are visible to the left and throughout the background. Black coral whip colonies grow upwards off the seafloor in thin stalks.

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