<div class="cbp-popup-wrapper"> <div class="cbp-l-inline"> <img src="/okeanos/explorations/okeanos-beyond-the-blue/ex2503/media/dive16-aplacophoran-800.jpg" alt="A piece of branching coral with a small pink fish swimming nearby over a rocky ocean floor." /> </div> <div class="cbp-l-inline-below"> <div class="cbp-l-inline-title">Aplacophoran</div> <div class="cbp-l-inline-subtitle"><i>Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2025 Beyond the Blue.</i> <a href="/okeanos/explorations/okeanos-beyond-the-blue/ex2503/media/dive16-aplacophoran.jpg" download target="_blank">Download larger version (jpg, 1.25 MB).</a></div> <div class="cbp-l-inline-desc">This black coral (<i>Stauropathes</i>) covered an unusual individual that shoreside and shipboard scientists had difficulty identifying from the video. The organism was collected and upon recovery, tentatively identified as a large aplacophoran (shell-less mollusk), covered in spicules that give it a “fuzzy†appearance. It was collected during Dive 16 of the PapahÄnaumokuÄkea ROV and Mapping expedition at a depth of 1,879 meters (6,165 feet).</p></div> </div> <!--<div class="cbp-l-inline-view-wrap"> <a href="" type="button" class="btn btn-outline-primary btn-standard" title="Learn more">Learn more<i class="bi bi-chevron-right"></i></a> </div>--> </div>