Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #PhoenixIslandsCoral

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A crustacean on a chrysogorgia soft coral, seen while documenting an unexplored seamount.
Scientists have known for a long time that certain species of crabs, brittle stars, worms, and shrimp live on (or within) the branching structures of deepwater corals. 1/4
Diverse deep-sea fauna seek to move up off of the seafloor – and onto corals and sponges – in order to surround themselves in nutrient-rich currents. Only recently have we learned just how specific these coral-invertebrate associations can be. 2/4
These highly specific relationships have led to fundamental questions about how these invertebrates living on corals disperse and locate their coral host. How have these specific relationships formed? 3/4
Read 4 tweets
Our recent footage of this #GlassOctopus raised lots of Q's, so let's get a thread going:
This was seen 651m deep at a seamount in Winslow reef complex on Tokelau Ridge in Phoenix Islands Archipelago (US EEZ). #PhoenixIslandsCoral expedition Dive 433

1/6
Glass Octopus reach 11 cm (4.3 in) in mantle length; 45 cm (18 in) including tentacles. This species is very rarely encountered+is considered 1 of the least studied cephalopods. Most info scientists have managed to get is from specimens found in stomachs of predators. 2/6
It gets its name from ability to be almost completely transparent. At end of this clip, its chromatophores (cells that produce color for camouflage, seen here as yellow dots) can be seen. The only aspects of that are not clear are optic nerve, eyeballs, and digestive tract. 3/6 Image
Read 7 tweets

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