A high-definition photograph taken by the ROV Hercules on Nashville Seamount during a cruise in 2005. In the foreground you can see a live Desmophyllum dianthus coral with tentacles poking out, which is about 10 centimeters across. This solitary coral is living among another deep-water coral species, called Lophelia pertusa, a colonial coral with many polyps (bottom right), as well as many species of purple and orange octocoral (above D. dianthus). The pink arms of a brittle star stretch across the colonial coral toward the Desmophyllum and a spiny sea urchin (far right). (Photo courtesy of DASS05_URI_IFE_IAO_NOAA)
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