{"id":811238,"date":"2026-11-03T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/deep-sea-corals-inner-beauty-and-community-pillars\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T18:28:35","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T18:28:35","slug":"deep-sea-corals-inner-beauty-and-community-pillars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/deep-sea-corals-inner-beauty-and-community-pillars\/","title":{"rendered":"Deep-sea Corals: Inner Beauty and Community Pillars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Erin E. Easton – School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – ESMOI Cientific Center, Universidad Cat\u00f3lica del Norte.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

It was once thought that life could not exist in the deep ocean, but we now know the deep ocean harbors a phenomenal diversity of life with millions of species still to be discovered. Unlike on land, the deep ocean is in perpetual darkness. No satellites or other technology can see from above the life thriving deep below the surface. If you visualize diving into the deep blue ocean, you will see the brilliant blue glow from the light above, but as you go deeper, the glow will fade away until you are surrounded by darkness and an incredible diversity of life. To explore the deep, dark ocean<\/a> below and all the amazing communities, we use remotely operated vehicles, about the size of a small SUV, that are piloted from the ship above. As the vehicle is navigated through the deep ocean, we are amazed by the breadth and beauty of the communities discovered.<\/p>\n\n

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Among the pillars of these communities are corals, which are animals that may be solitary or, more often, colonial. Colonial corals come in a variety of forms from stony branching and plate-like corals common in shallower waters to tree-, bush-, and whip-like forms that are more common at depth. Their beauty is on full display<\/a> with brilliant yellows, pinks, oranges, reds, and purples amidst the more subtle whites, creams, and browns. Whether they are a lone colony or part of a marine forest, corals are often the foundation of their community, providing essential structure and services for dozens of other species throughout their lifetime of centuries to millennia.<\/p>\n\n

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A single coral colony often is home to dozens of other animals, some of which spend their entire lifetime on that colony. Among the residents of a coral colony are brittle stars, basket stars, mollusks, anemones, crinoids (sea lillies), other corals, polychaete and other worms, and a number of crustaceans, including squat lobsters, hermit crabs, shrimps, amphipods, and barnacles. Although many of these individuals live in partnership with coral, some anemones and other corals are in competition with the host coral, slowly overtaking them. For larger species, such as fish, sharks, and rays, corals provide a location for them to lay their eggs or as shelter for juvenile fishes or sleeping fish. For sea stars and urchins, corals are a source of food. With all the pivotal roles they play, the loss of a single colony leads to the loss of dozens of individuals from the community. So, their protection is imperative to maintain healthy oceans and prevent the loss of species.<\/p>\n\n

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These pillars of deep-sea communities are not only beautiful on the outside with their brilliant colors, elaborate branching patterns, menagerie of animals living amongst their branches, and delicate extension of polyps and tentacles, but they have an inner beauty that is hidden from view of the remotely operated vehicle. To explore this inner beauty, we collect a small sample to image with advanced microscope and imaging technology, including using x-ray imaging after staining the sample to allow for the soft tissues of the polyps to be seen as well as small skeletal elements, which look like elaborate of grains of sand or rice and provide structure and support. The internal arrangement of these tissues and skeletal elements is incredibly diverse, so each species we study with these technologies reveals new information on coral structure and function. Regardless of the species, the internal structure is beautiful in its symmetry and design.<\/p>\n\n

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In octocorals, we can see the eight-fold symmetry of the polyps, each with eight tentacles arranged in a circle. Octocoral skeletal elements, like those of humans, are made of a form of calcium carbonate. These elements may be abundant or sparse in the polyps and branches and the colony may have a central skeleton forming its branches or have a dense arrangement of small skeletal elements around water-filled canals. In contrast, black corals have six tentacles in their polyps and have a central skeleton made of protein and chitin, the same material found in the outer shells of insects and crustaceans. This variety of form gives corals an inner beauty that rivals their outer beauty.<\/p>\n\n

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During recent exploration of the deep sea around Rapa Nui and nearby seamounts (underwater mountains), we have recently discovered several new species of coral, forests of centuries- and millennia-old corals, and dozens of new species that live in harmony with corals and other deep Rapa Nui communities. Internal examination of these corals reveals previously unknown information on not only their internal form and function but also on their reproductive status and strategy. So, as you experience Rapa Nui as a community member or a visitor, keep in mind that just below the surface is an amazingly beautiful and complex community of marine organisms that deserve consideration and protection<\/a> and have so much left to reveal if we support intentional, careful exploration that will advance our knowledge and connection to the ocean and inform decisions to balance sustainable use and protection of the life below.<\/p>\n\n

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By Erin E. Easton – School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – ESMOI Cientific Center, Universidad Cat\u00f3lica del Norte. It was once thought that life could not exist in the deep ocean, but we now know the deep ocean harbors a phenomenal diversity of life with millions of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":811299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136,135],"tags":[312,241,143],"class_list":["post-811238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living-nature","category-underwater-world","tag-corals","tag-marine-biodiversity","tag-with-a-special-focus-on-the-south-pacific-subtropical-gyre"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":811239,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811238\/revisions\/811239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}