Diversity of Deep-Sea Corals

Sample the surprising diversity of deep-sea corals. See some of the ways they differ in color, shape, and size.

Deep-Sea Coral Community

Dr. Amy Baco-Taylor observed corals like these on her first submarine dive to a deep-sea coral bed off the coast of Hawaii. They include primnoids, zoanthids, and Gerardia. The high density and diversity of species is typical of most deep-coral beds in Hawaii at this depth.

Gold Coral

Species of deep-sea gold coral, or Gerardia, often have a tree-like shape, as you can see in this specimen.

Black Corals

Black corals, like this one growing on the Manning Seamount off the New England coast, often resemble bushes or trees. Contrary to its name, the living tissue of black coral can be one of several colors. It’s the skeleton that is black.

Bubblegum Coral

This bubblegum coral (Paragorgia arborea) has a fanlike shape. It is growing 1,310 m (4,298 ft) deep on the Davidson Seamount southwest of Monterey, California.

Sea Whip Coral

The pink strands of this single deep-sea coral harbor a variety of marine life. Sea whips are gorgonian corals and have flexible skeletons.

Solitary Deep-water Corals

These corals from the Smithsonian collections are Stephanocyathus (A.) spiniger, a solitary, deep-water stony coral species. Around 74% of all deep-water corals are solitary, living as individual organisms instead of forming large colonies like most shallow-water corals. This one has six long spines that slow it from sinking into soft substrates.

Red Tree Coral

Tree corals like this Calyptrophora bayer can grow several meters high and resemble brightly colored trees. This deep-sea coral was found 1,683 m (5,522 ft) deep on the Davidson Seamount.

Red Coral

A fan-shaped colony of red coral (Corallium sp.) on the Davidson Seamount provides a perch for three basket stars as they feed.

Bamboo Coral

This 200-year-old bamboo coral colony is growing on the Davidson Seamount off the coast of California. The skeleton of this deep-sea coral has bamboo-like segments.

Collecting Gold Coral from the Deep Sea

The robotic arm of a Pisces submersible collects a gold coral colony (Gerardia sp.) during a research cruise in the Hawaiian Islands. Ocean scientists have radiocarbon-dated some Gerardia specimens from this area at more than 2,700 years old.

Deep-Sea Coral Sample

In the wet lab aboard the R/V Seward Johnson, Dr. Martha Nizinski examines a sample of the deep-sea coral Lophelia pertusa, collected 600-m (1,969-ft) deep off the coast of the southeastern United States. She is looking for other organisms that may be living in association with this coral.

Lophelia Pertusa Coral Polyps

Deep-sea corals scientist Dr. J. Murray Roberts photographed these living polyps from the Mingulay Reef Complex off Scotland in aquaria in 2010.

Gold Coral Close-up

This close-up photograph of gold coral (Gerardia sp.) was taken at the Cross Seamount in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 400 m (1,312 ft). Gold corals at this location can have lifespans of 2,000 years or more.

Deep-Sea Coral Habitat

Rockfish, anemones, and other invertebrates inhabit this deep-sea coral reef in Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of California. Deep-sea corals provide habitat and benefits to a variety of marine life.

New Bamboo Coral

See a few of the many species of deep-sea corals that have been discovered by scientists just since 2004.

Manning Seamount Deep Coral Communities

Colorful corals and brittlestars inhabit the Manning Seamount in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of New England. Here you can see golden-colored coral (Enallopsamia rostrata), pinkish-brown coral (Solenosmilia variabilis), pink soft coral (Candidella imbricate), and brittlestars (Ophiacantha sp.).

Lophelia pertusa Colony

This colony of Lophelia pertusa was photographed from the Mingulay Reef Complex off Scotland in 2005.

Aleutian Coral Reef

Several species of deep-sea corals form a garden 165 m (540 ft) below the ocean’s surface off the coast of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

Primnoid Coral

The branches of a primnoid coral in the genus Calyptrophora provide a habitat for galathaoid crabs.

How old is black coral?

This deep-sea black coral from Hawaii (Leiopathes sp.) is more than 4,200 years old. Black corals are named for the color of their skeletons, but the external tissues of black corals come in many bright colors.

Coral Thicket with Lobster

A thicket of white stony coral (Lophelia pertusa) shelters a squat lobster (Eumunida picta). This is the typical shape of this widespread species of deep-sea coral.

Protected Deep-sea Corals

These deep-sea corals at the Madison-Swanson Marine Reserve in the Gulf of Mexico are protected, along with the marine life they harbor.

Deep-sea Coral and Shrimp

Marine scientists photographed and measured this gorgonian coral (Chrysogorgia sp.) and deep-sea shrimp (Bathypalaemonella sp.) just as they were collected—together.