Scientists surveying rugged underwater mountains deep beneath the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Costa Rica have made a remarkable discovery, identifying a brand-new type of coral that is so fundamentally distinct from any known species that researchers had to establish an entirely new family to classify it.
Found dwelling in the perpetual twilight between 360 and 529 meters below the ocean’s surface, the striking organism features a vibrant, glowing yellow coloration and a branching, tree-like architecture. Some colonies of this unusual deep-sea dweller grow to more than a meter in height, standing out dramatically against the dark, rocky terrain of the seafloor. The groundbreaking findings were recently detailed in the open-access scientific publication ZooKeys, shedding new light on the vast, largely unexplored biodiversity hidden within the planet’s deep marine ecosystems.
The specimens that made this scientific classification possible were gathered during a series of meticulous deep-sea expeditions conducted in 2019 and 2023. Researchers utilized SuBastian, an advanced, remotely operated vehicle capable of withstanding the crushing pressures of the deep ocean, to retrieve the corals. The operations were launched aboard the specialized research vessels Falkor and Falkor (too), which are owned and operated by the Schmidt Ocean Institute. These missions focused heavily on charting and exploring uncharted seamounts located near Isla del Coco and stretching along Costa Rica’s sprawling Pacific margin, an area increasingly recognized as a hotspot for unique marine life.
A Golden Coral Among Fields of Stars
During the deep-sea dives, researchers noticed that the newly discovered coral was particularly abundant on rocky outcrops where the surrounding terrain was heavily carpeted by brittle stars. These dense aggregations of echinoderms covered nearly every available surface in the immediate vicinity. Against this shimmering, star-like backdrop, the bright yellow, branching structures of the coral appeared to rise from the ocean floor like glowing arboreal pillars surrounded by a cosmos of marine organisms.
This ethereal underwater vista directly inspired the scientific nomenclature chosen by the research team. The newly designated genus has been named Laurinque, a term derived from "Laurinquë," which translates to "golden tree" in Quenya, an Elvish language famously invented by author J.R.R. Tolkien for his legendary mythos, including The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. The researchers selected this specific name to honor the coral’s striking, vivid yellow pigmentation and its characteristic tree-like morphology.
Furthermore, the species name chosen for the organism is elenya, which translates to "stellar" or "of the stars" in the same Elvish tongue. This designation directly acknowledges the dense populations of brittle stars that blanketed the seafloor and surrounded the coral colonies during the observations. Together, the chosen genus and species names pay homage to what the researchers described as an almost mystical, Tolkien-inspired landscape thriving quietly on the deep ocean floor far beyond the reach of sunlight.
DNA Reveals a New Coral Family
While discovering a visually striking organism is always a triumph for marine biologists, determining precisely where the coral fit on the intricate evolutionary tree of life proved to be a far more complex and confounding task than the team initially anticipated.
In the early stages of their analysis, scientists sequenced three standard genes that are commonly relied upon by researchers to identify and classify coral species. However, instead of pointing toward a unified taxonomic group or a known family, the genetic data yielded baffling results. Each of the three genes pointed toward a completely different and unrelated family of corals, creating a taxonomic puzzle that defied conventional identification methods.
Because these initial genetic readouts were unusually inconsistent and contradictory, the research team turned to a more advanced and comprehensive technique known as phylogenomics. This sophisticated method involves comparing hundreds of genes simultaneously rather than relying on just a few markers. The broader, more exhaustive genetic analysis finally pierced through the confusion, clarifying the coral’s true evolutionary standing and resolving its lineage.
The comprehensive genetic data conclusively demonstrated that the species does not belong to any previously recognized coral family documented by science. Instead, it represents an entirely distinct evolutionary lineage. While phylogenetic analysis indicates it is most closely related to the family Eunicellidae, both its genetic blueprint and its underlying anatomical features differ profoundly enough to warrant the establishment of a brand-new family, which the researchers named Laurinqueidae. Alongside this new family, the scientists formally established the new genus Laurinque specifically to house the species.
Dr. Odalisca Breedy of the Universidad de Costa Rica, who served as the lead researcher on the scientific study, reflected on the winding path of the discovery. "I saw the octocoral garden for the first time in 2019 and I was impressed by the beauty of the landscape, which inspired, later the elvish name of the taxa," Dr. Breedy said. "I thought the species could belong to a known family and genera, but after the preliminar morphological analysis I realised that it was something very different that I could not match with the known taxa."
"In 2023 we collected more samples and thanks to the exhaustive molecular analyses made by my colleagues, Cathy McFadden, Catalina Murillo and Andrea Quattrini, we were able to determine the taxonomic placement of the stunning species, in one of the most enigmatic sites," she added.
Costa Rica’s Deep Sea Still Holds Surprises
Dr. Breedy spearheaded the investigation alongside a diverse, international team of scientific collaborators. Financial and logistical support for the expeditions was provided by the Schmidt Ocean Institute, supplemented by a crucial research grant from the National Geographic Society, enabling the team to probe deeper and more thoroughly than previously possible.
This remarkable find adds to an expanding catalog of previously undocumented and unclassified species discovered during surveys of Costa Rica’s rugged underwater seamounts. It also serves as a stark reminder of how much of the deep ocean remains entirely unmapped and poorly understood by humanity, despite the deep sea covering roughly two-thirds of the total surface area of Planet Earth.
Ecologically, complex underwater habitats like the coral gardens discovered off Costa Rica are widely recognized by marine scientists as vulnerable and highly sensitive marine ecosystems. The intricate, three-dimensional physical structures created by these corals provide essential shelter, feeding grounds, and breeding habitats for a wide array of other deep-sea organisms. Because of this, they function as critical hubs of biodiversity in deep, high-pressure environments that researchers are only just beginning to comprehend and protect.
