Garibaldi and Brown Gorgonian Muricea fruticosa, Catalina Island, with giant kelp stands reaching from the reef to the surface of the ocean in the distance. The clown prince of the kelp forest, the Garibaldi, alternately poses for me and chirps at me to move away from his gorgonian.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37157
Brown gorgonian and California golden gorgonian on underwater rocky reef below kelp forest, Catalina Island. Gorgonians are filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by.
Species: Brown gorgonian, California golden gorgonian, Muricea californica, Muricea fruticosa
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37292
Brown gorgonian and California golden gorgonian on underwater rocky reef below kelp forest, San Clemente Island. Gorgonians are filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by.
Species: Brown gorgonian, California golden gorgonian, Muricea californica, Muricea fruticosa
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 37056
Brown gorgonian and California golden gorgonian on underwater rocky reef below kelp forest, San Clemente Island. Gorgonians are filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by.
Species: Brown gorgonian, California golden gorgonian, Muricea californica, Muricea fruticosa
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 37117
Spectacular underwater rocky reef topography at San Clemente Island, typified by crevices, walls and profuse vertical relief on the rocky ocean bottom below the kelp forest.
Species: Brown gorgonian, Muricea fruticosa
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38512
Brown gorgonians on rocky reef, below kelp forest, underwater. Gorgonians are filter-feeding temperate colonial species that live on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by.
Species: Brown gorgonian, Muricea fruticosa
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 25398
Brown Gorgonian Muricea fruticosa on underwater rocky reef, amid kelp forest, Catalina Island. The brown gorgonian is a filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by.
Location: Catalina Island, California
Image ID: 37158
Brown gorgonians on rocky reef, below kelp forest, underwater. Gorgonians are filter-feeding temperate colonial species that live on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by.
Species: Giant kelp, Brown gorgonian, Macrocystis pyrifera, Muricea fruticosa
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 38523
Brown gorgonian and California golden gorgonian on underwater rocky reef below kelp forest, San Clemente Island. Gorgonians are filter-feeding temperate colonial species that lives on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by.
Species: Brown gorgonian, California golden gorgonian, Muricea californica, Muricea fruticosa
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 37079
Brown gorgonians on rocky reef, below kelp forest, underwater. Gorgonians are filter-feeding temperate colonial species that live on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by.
Species: Brown gorgonian, Muricea fruticosa
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 23550
Brown gorgonians on rocky reef, below kelp forest, underwater. Gorgonians are filter-feeding temperate colonial species that live on the rocky bottom at depths between 50 to 200 feet deep. Each individual polyp is a distinct animal, together they secrete calcium that forms the structure of the colony. Gorgonians are oriented at right angles to prevailing water currents to capture plankton drifting by.
Species: Brown gorgonian, Muricea fruticosa
Location: San Clemente Island, California
Image ID: 23588