Black Coral

Photo: DavidR.808 · CC BY-NC

Black coral trees dominate the deeper sections of Cape Nelson Wall from 20 meters downward, their branching polyp-covered colonies providing critical habitat for a suite of specialized commensals including longnose hawkfish, clingfish, and shrimp species found nowhere else. These slow-growing organisms may live for centuries — some deep specimens are among the oldest living animals on Earth — and their loss to collection or damage is effectively irreversible on any human timescale.