ID required please - Not seen before.

[peter_dorset]

Can anyone please identify this seen in Red Sea whilst diving the Thistlegorm wreck. It was glowing at the bottom almost pulsing and the dive masters were unable to identify it.

I have never seen any think like it before really curious to find out what it is.

Thanks

Peter

 

[Mako Mark]

Can anyone please identify this seen in Red Sea whilst diving the Thistlegorm wreck. It was glowing at the bottom almost pulsing and the dive masters were unable to identify it.

I have never seen any think like it before really curious to find out what it is.

Thanks

Peter

Looks like a kind of whip coral from here, why it would bioluminesce is another question

 

[archman]

What Mark said, but a more commonly used name for the things are black corals... antipatharians. That corkscrewy habit is a common one, lot like the shallow water Cirrhopathes we get in the Caribbean. Polyp structure is very strange with these things.

Many cnidarians display weak bioluminescence, including anemones and sea pens. It's generally thought of a method to attract zooplanktonic prey. I haven't heard about it in antipatharians, but they're a poorly studied group primarily limited to deepwater.

 

[peter_dorset]

Thank you. It was very odd, 28 meters and this thing glowing/pulsing looked very freaky.

I appreciate your comments.