Image of black wire coral

Description:

Stichopathes lutkeni, 50-75 m Flower Garden Banks, Gulf of Mexico.

Photograph courtesy of NOAA-FGBNMS/UNCW-UVP. Identifications by D. Opresko. Note that colonies in the Caribbean often have a reddish coloration, whereas those from the Flower Garden Banks are more often orange to cream-colored. For more information see: Opresko DM, Nuttall MF, Hickerson EL (2016). Black corals of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Gulf of Mexico Science 2016(1): 47-67.