The Schmidt Ocean Institute team is calling on all interested scientists, especially those from the mesophotic and deep-sea coral community to join in remotely and provide comments during the dives!
Deep Water
Deep Sea Biodiversity of Ningaloo Canyons Western Australia
Deep Sea Biodiversity Ningaloo Canyons Little is known about deep sea biodiversity, and very few deep sea areas both in and outside of Australia have been well-sampled. A large number of species still remain undiscovered and unnamed, and a recent…
Scientists Discover ‘Coraltropolis’ In The Cold Waters of British Columbia
Explorer Seamount, British Columbia 900m (3000ft) below the surface, on the side of an underwater volcano, may not be the first place you’d expect to find a dense community of corals. Yet on a recent expedition, scientists were awestruck by…
The Case Of The Missing Ctenophores
In 2015 a team from the California Academy of Science set out on a expedition to the Philippines to explore the Coral Triangle’s biological treasures. The trip was aimed at exploring the Verde Island Passage, a stretch of water between the…
Grammatonotus xanthostigma & G. pelipel, Two New Splendid Deepwater Basslets
Grammatonotus xanthostigma and G. pelipel were just described from specimens collected in Pohnpei. Grammatonotus is a genus of deepwater basslets containing some fantastic species, and today we’ve got news of two more. It was just a few short years ago…
Canada Protects Rare Glass Sponge Reef
Glass Sponge Reef Last month the Canadian government declared the Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound a Marine Protected Area (MPA). The area is recognized as an important and exceptional marine habitat as the reefs are made up of large colonies…
Okeanos Continues To Amaze With Deep Sea Dives In Samoa
NOAA is back to wowing us with incredible images of marine life from the deep sea with the latest Okeanos expedition. The first mission of the year is a series of deep dives with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) exploring the…
A new way to photosynthesize discovered in mesophotic coral, Stylophora pistillata
A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science found that photosynthetic algae in corals which inhabit mesophotic reefs have a never-before seen adaptation to life in the twilight zone. Researchers found that the Symbiodinium spp. algae responsible for powering photosynthesis…
Prognathodes basabei, or orange margin butterfly, now officially described
Although known to exist for over 20 years and even referenced quite a few times here at Reef Builders, a new species of deep-water butterflyfish from the mesophotic reefs of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument was finally described today by…
First video of unexplored reef off Tasmania’s east coast
Scuba divers off the East Coast of Tasmania have given us the first close-up look at the marine life on deep reefs in the Freycinet Commonwealth Marine Reserve. Their footage shows an explosion of colourful sponges, gorgonian fans and other…