Beautiful Iridogorgia Coral Rises Meters from the Seafloor
Our Corps of Exploration came across this beautiful Iridogorgia genus coral rising from the seafloor about 1,972 meters deep on an unnamed seamount East of Ailinglaplap Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. These massive spiraling corals can grow to be over five meters long, thanks to their flexibility and unique shape. Sometimes called “fireworks corals”, they create the perfect intricate structures for associates like sea stars, hydroids, crinoids, and even crustaceans to live on while they filter food out of the water column.
The NA174 expedition to explore the deep sea of the Republic of the Marshall Islands is funded by NOAA Ocean Exploration via the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute.
Deep-Sea Habitats of the Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands is an atoll-based country of over 1,200 islands surrounded by 2.13 million square kilometers of ocean, the vast majority of which has never been mapped or surveyed.
