Recently, five new species of black corals were discovered living as
deep as 2,500 feet below the surface tin the Great Barrier Reef and
Coral Sea off the coast of Australia.
About Black Corals
Black corals or antipatharians are colonial animals which are related to
sea anemones and stony corals.
There are only 300 known species of black corals in the world.
At least 14 species of black corals are currently known from Hawaii.
CHARACTERISTICS:
Black corals are filter feeders and eat tiny zooplankton that are
abundant in deep waters.
Black corals occur throughout all oceans and from subtidal to abyssal
depths (8000 meters).
More common in tropical and subtropical regions at depths below 50 m.
Found in areas with hard substrates, low-light and strong currents.
Slow-growing and long-lived organisms with longevity ranging from
decades to over 4000 years.
They are branched and look like feathers, fans or bushes, some look
straight like a whip.
Highly biodiverse, a black coral colony in California found to be home
to 2,554 individual invertebrates.
Great Barrier Reef
World's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual
reefs and 900 islands.
It is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland,
Australia.
It was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. A large part of
the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
