Two different species of stony coral, both in the genus Enallopsammia, one purple and one yellow, grow next to one another. In the foreground is the edge of a sponge, from behind which extend the thick spines of a cidarid sea urchin. The photo was taken at 477 meters depth off the southwest tip of Ni’ihau.
Stony Coral
Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2015 Hohonu Moana. Download larger version (jpg, 1.1 MB).

Two different species of stony coral, both in the genus Enallopsammia, one purple and one yellow, grow next to one another. In the foreground is the edge of a sponge, from behind which extend the thick spines of a cidarid sea urchin. The photo was taken at 477 meters depth off the southwest tip of Ni’ihau.

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