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Cockscomb Cup Coral

This cold-water coral is an ecosystem engineer — it plays an important role in forming complex deep-sea reef habitats that support a diversity of marine life.

 

The cockscomb cup coral is a striking species of stony coral found throughout the world’s oceans, from the Arctic to Antarctica. It most commonly inhabits deep waters between 200 and 2,500 meters (656–8,202 feet), though in certain regions, such as the fjords of Chile and New Zealand, it can also be found in much shallower depths. Unlike tropical corals, which need sunlight for energy, this coral can grow in the dark depths of the ocean by capturing drifting zooplankton for food.

Growing at a slow rate of 0.5-2 millimeters (0.08 inches) per year, the cockscomb cup coral can live for up to 200 years, with each individual, or polyp,  reaching heights of up to 40 centimeters (15.8 inches) As a stony coral, each individual, or polyp, secretes a hard calcium carbonate skeleton, creating its cup-like structure. These corals can often cluster together to form reef habitats that fish, crustaceans, and other creatures depend on, both in the deep sea and in shallow waters.

 

 

Their broad geographic and depth distribution means the cockscomb cup coral faces a variety of threats. These include fishing activity such as deep-sea bottom trawling as well as possible harmful impacts from ocean acidification caused by climate change. Other threats come from habitat degradation such as the anchoring of offshore structures on the seabed and drilling activities that happen before oil or mineral extraction.

 

 

While climate change is a huge problem, it is one we know how to combat. We must reduce fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions around the world to prevent the worst effects of the climate crisis. Oceana analysis has found that halting new offshore oil and gas drilling is an essential part of the climate solution, with the potential to reduce emissions more than any other ocean-based solution. Learn more about how we can protect our climate by stopping offshore drilling — and what you can do to help make this happen — here.

 

 

  • Addamo AM, Reimer JD, Taviani M, Freiwald A, and Machordom A. (2012) Desmophyllum dianthus (Esper, 1794) in the Scleractinian Phylogeny and Its Intraspecific Diversity. PLoS ONE 7: e50215. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0050215 
  • Häussermann V. (2019) Highly seasonal reproduction in deep-water emergent Desmophyllum dianthus (Scleractinia: Caryophylliidae) from the Northern Patagonian Fjords. Marine Biology 166. https://doi.org/10.1007/S00227-019-3495-3 
  • Höfer J, González HE, Laudien J, Schmidt M, Häussermann V, and Richter C. (2018) All you can eat: the functional response of the cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus feeding on krill and copepods. PeerJ. DOI 10.7717/peerj.5872 
  • IUCN Red List 
  • Miller KJ, Rowden AA, Williams A, and Häussermann V. (2011) Out of Their Depth? Isolated Deep Populations of the Cosmopolitan Coral Desmophyllum dianthus May Be Highly Vulnerable to Environmental Change. PLoS One 6: e19004. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019004 
  • NOAA: How do corals grow? 

 

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