深海探密:美輪美奐的海底世界
The Lophelia II 2009 Reef, Rigs, and Wrecks cruise explored the waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
洛菲莉亞II號科學考察船2009年的征程圍繞墨西哥灣附近的暗礁、鑽探和船隻殘骸展開。
The prime goal of the 2009 cruise was to understand the animal communities that live in and around deep-sea, cold-water coral reefs. Here a crab, also known as a squat lobster catches and consumes a squid.
本次科考的主要目的乃是瞭解生活在深海冷水區珊瑚礁附近的生態羣落。圖爲一隻龍蝦正在捕食魷魚。
Octocorals are most commonly known as large colorful sea-fans. They have eight pinnate tentacles on each polyp rather than six on other corals. They can grow far deeper than other corals.
圖爲八放珊瑚。顧名思義，個頭偏大、五光十色的它們在每個珊瑚蟲上長有八隻羽狀觸角，而通常的珊瑚只有六隻。比起其他珊瑚，他們生活在更深的海底。
Polyps of Lophelia pertusa extend from the corallites in order to feed. Like other cold-water corals, L. pertusa preys on plankton that descend from the surface.
爲了捕食，名爲Lophelia pertusa的珊瑚蟲從珊瑚石上伸展出來。像其他冷水珊瑚一樣，L. pertusa以海面沉下來的浮游生物爲食。
A fish swims at the base of coral. The small, deep-sea fish, live for an exceptionally long time. One was reported to live for 149 years.
一條魚從珊瑚底部遊過。這種小型深海魚的壽命很長，據說其中一隻活到了149歲。
