Zigzag coral

Madrepora oculata, also called zigzag coral, is a stony coral that is found worldwide outside of the polar regions, growing in deep water at depths of 50 to at least 1500 meters. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is one of only 12 species of coral that are found worldwide, including in Subantarctic oceans. In some areas, such as in the Mediterranean Sea and the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, it dominates communities of coral. Due to their similar distribution and taxonomic relationship, M. oculata is often experimentally compared to related deep sea coral, Lophelia pertusa.

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