NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research
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This unbranched deep-water whip coral occurs from the northeastern coast of the USA (George Banks) to the Gulf of Mexico (Florida Straits) at great depths.
While a great many deep-water corals find hard substrates and settle there permanently, there are some species that have adapted to life in soft sediments, including Acanella arbuscula and Lepidisis caryophyllia.
Photographs as magnificent as those of the widely expanded polyps can be made of deep-water coral only with the aid of suitable underwater vehicles such as an ROV.
In addition to photographs, samples of the discovered corals can be taken and brought to the surface, where they can be identified.
The polyps have the task to catch edible plankton from the current in perpetual darkness, so that the coral can ensure all biological processes such as growth or reproduction.
Synonym: Lepidisis vitrea Verrill, 1883
While a great many deep-water corals find hard substrates and settle there permanently, there are some species that have adapted to life in soft sediments, including Acanella arbuscula and Lepidisis caryophyllia.
Photographs as magnificent as those of the widely expanded polyps can be made of deep-water coral only with the aid of suitable underwater vehicles such as an ROV.
In addition to photographs, samples of the discovered corals can be taken and brought to the surface, where they can be identified.
The polyps have the task to catch edible plankton from the current in perpetual darkness, so that the coral can ensure all biological processes such as growth or reproduction.
Synonym: Lepidisis vitrea Verrill, 1883
