A CORAL LINE—A line of deep-sea corals recedes into darkness. From bottom left to top right: white, bushy soft corals, a bright orange black coral, a branched soft coral like a bare tree, and white, twisted, branchless bamboo corals. Sharing center stage in front are (left to right) a dark, bottlebrush-shaped black coral, a red soft coral, and purple crinoids (relatives of sea stars). (Deep-sea coral photos courtesy "Mountains in the Sea" scientific party, NOAA, and the Institute for Exploration.)[back]
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