Nearly 200 species of Great Barrier Reef corals have found a second home in the deep ocean. That’s six times as many species as previously thought to be living in the dark, cold waters off northeastern Australia, researchers report December 12 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Perhaps more important than the number of species cataloged at those depths is the fact that every evolutionary family of reef-building coral is represented, offering a potential boon for conservation efforts.