This colony of yellow zoanthid polyps overgrowing a bamboo coral skeleton was seen at 2,775 meters (9,104 feet) depth on Congress Seamount during the second dive of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition. Zoanthids, which are cnidarians belonging to the order Zoanthidea, were quite common throughout the dive. Many zoanthids, like those seen here, are epizoic, meaning they prefer to grow on other animals such as sponges and corals.
Colony of Yellow Zoanthid Polyps
Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones: New England and Corner Rise Seamounts. Download larger version (jpg, 1 MB).

This colony of yellow zoanthid polyps overgrowing a bamboo coral skeleton was seen at 2,775 meters (9,104 feet) depth on Congress Seamount during the second dive of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition. Zoanthids, which are cnidarians belonging to the order Zoanthidea, were quite common throughout the dive. Many zoanthids, like those seen here, are epizoic, meaning they prefer to grow on other animals such as sponges and corals.

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