Off the coast of Costa Rica, on submarine mountains, brightly colored yellow coral colonies, resembling glowing trees, rise among fields of brittle stars. These colonies, which can reach over a meter in height, grow at depths ranging from 360 to 529 meters and immediately captured researchers' attention due to their unusual shape and color.
The discovery was made during 2019 and 2023 expeditions aboard research vessels belonging to the Schmidt Ocean Institute. Using the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian, scientists collected samples from submarine mountains near Cocos Island and along Costa Rica's Pacific coast. The colonies proved so abundant that they formed entire “gardens” among rock outcrops, which were almost entirely covered by brittle stars.
Determining the systematic classification of the new coral presented a complex challenge. Initial analysis of three standard genes suggested affiliations with various unrelated families. However, a comprehensive phylogenomic study involving hundreds of genes ultimately revealed that the coral represents a distinct evolutionary lineage, most closely related to the Eunicellidae family, yet sufficiently divergent in its genetics and structure to warrant the establishment of a new family, Laurinqueidae, and a new genus, Laurinque.
The genus name, Laurinque, is derived from Quenya, J.R.R. Tolkien's Elvish language, where “laurinqué” signifies “golden tree,” and the species name “elenya” means “starry.” This naming convention reflects the researchers' impression of golden branches rising amidst a shimmering “starry” carpet of brittle stars. Dr. Odaliska Breedy from the University of Costa Rica, who led the research, noted that even during their initial observation in 2019, it was clear they had encountered something entirely novel that did not fit into existing taxa.
The submarine mountains of the tropical Eastern Pacific remain among the least explored areas on the planet. Each such discovery serves as a reminder of how little we understand about the deep-sea ecosystems that cover two-thirds of Earth's surface. Coral gardens of this kind are considered vulnerable marine ecosystems, providing complex habitats for numerous other species.
The study has been published open-access in the journal ZooKeys and was conducted by an international team with support from the Schmidt Ocean Institute and the National Geographic Society. This research adds to the growing list of previously unknown species found off Costa Rica's coast and underscores the critical importance of further deep-ocean exploration.
Conserving these remote submarine mountains is crucial for protecting undiscovered life forms whose existence we are only just beginning to comprehend.
