Fact Sheet. Deep-sea corals thrive in cold, dark environments deeper than 50 meters, where they survive without sunlight by filtering nutrients directly from the water with their polyps. Because they lack photosynthetic algae and inhabit extreme conditions, these organisms grow incredibly slowly, with some individual colonies living for over 4,000 years. Over these vast timescales, their gradual growth can create massive biological mounds that rise more than 150 meters from the ocean floor.

Click the links on the right to view the full version of this Fact Sheet and learn more about corals and the difference between deep-sea corals and their shallow-water and mesophotic relatives.

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