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Can you spot the eumunid crab?

February 19, 2020

This purple gorgonian soft coral (Victogorgia) was discovered in 2017 during the first deep-water surveys of the central Pacific’s Phoenix Islands Protected Area (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) in Kiribati. These corals and the diverse animals they host, like the eumunid crab perched on the coral’s branches, are highly vulnerable to the impacts of bottom fishing, regional acidification and warming, and marine debris. The mission to explore this remote region was led by Erik Cordes, Randi Rotjan, and WHOI’s Tim Shank aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor. (Image acquired from ROV SuBastian)