Spotting a new species

Scientists who go down in submarines to study the ocean floor off Southern California don't see many big rockfish anymore. But they have found a new species of coral they dubbed Antipathes dendrochristos, or Christmas tree coral, for its shape and color. It was spotted on rocky banks 40 miles out, in water 100 to 225 meters deep, and has since been discovered around the Channel Islands. The Breeze writes up the University of California Santa Barbara and NOAA Fisheries scientists who made the find.