Tom Nic wrote: Any size, small or large, that is an amazing critter (critters, actually if it's a true coral) that I'd LOVE to see.
-Tom Nic
Actually, Tom, just like the warm-water corals that everyone is familiar with, these corals are
also made up of tiny fragile animals known as "polyps". Just like their tropical brethren, they are all linked together into colonies of hundreds or thousands, (depending on the size of the colony), completely surrounded by a calcareous skeleton. So you are right....the correct term would in fact be "critters", (one of my favorite words!).
Unlike the tropical corals, however, they do NOT depend
at all on photosynthesis for nourishment..... instead they filter microscopic particles from the water column. This enables them to live FAR deeper than warm-water corals (which disappear with depth) and they are found in areas where currents habitually channel food to them. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint!), this places them out of the depth range of most divers. As has been mentioned elsewhere, Valerie and I were fortunate enough to find some specimens at 93 FSW, but that is unusual and most were deeper, beginning around 100 FSW.
Like their tropical cousins, gorgonian deep water corals provide habitat for
many species of fish and invertebrates, including rockfish, crabs, and several species of shrimp. As aways in the PNW, structure will attract life to it and the deep reefs at which gorgonians thrive also abound in other species as well.
I was up at the Vancouver Aquarium for the "Divers Weekend" show this past Saturday. They have a few small specimens of gorgonian corals in a small low-light wall tank display. It's a good way to see what they look like close-up.
- John
