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Biodiversity

Introduction > Porifera > Cnidaria > Polychaeta > Crustacea > Mollusca > Bryozoa > Echinodermata

Cold-water coral reefs provide a home for many other animals and they are among the most diverse ecosystems in the ocean - so far over 1300 species have been found with cold-water corals in the NE Atlantic alone and specialists often discover new species that have never been described before.

Here we look at a few examples of the major animal groups (or Phyla) found living on cold-water coral reefs. Click the images below for more information and follow the Go Deeper links for more pictures:

     

Hexactinellida or glass sponge collected from the deep-sea © NOAA-OE (2005)
Sponges (Porifera)

A sea anemone (Urticina eques), North Sea. © Lundin Petroleum Ltd (2002).
Corals, jellyfish, anemones (Cnidaria)

Nothria conchylega © L. Henry, SAMS (2005)
Bristleworms (Polychaeta)
Natatolana borealis © L. Henry, SAMS (2005)
Crabs and other crustaceans (Arthropoda)
Delectopecten vitreus © L. Henry, SAMS (2005)
Snails, bivalves, octopus, nudibranchs, limpets (Mollusca)

Bicellariella ciliata © L. Henry, SAMS (2005)
Sea mats

(Bryozoa)

Marginaster capreensis © L. Henry, SAMS (2005)
Urchins, sea cucumbers, sea stars (Echinodermata)





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View this information when you are off-line with our biodiversity factsheet.

 

 

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