The lights of the camera bring out the brilliant colors of the reef.

Sponges, corals and many other attached species compete for space on the reef.

This temperate reef off North Carolina has hard corals and tropical fish.

Scientists study reefs for many reasons, economic and ecologic.

Elkhorn, Acropora palmata, coral towers above reef creating habitat and beach protection.

Demosponges and coralline algae on a permanent photo plot.

Diversity on cold rocky reefs can also be very high.

Starfish and anemones in a cold water rocky community.

Macroalgae are important habitat on temperate and northern reefs. Macrocystis

Kelp beds are extremely complex and critical marine habitats. Wise management of both kelp beds and the animals that depend on them is key to the future of our marine ecosystem.

Flowers are actually worms with tubes among the reef growth.

Macroalgae come in many shapes and sizes, from microscopic to tens of meters.

Brown algae on a temperate Carolina reef can survive a wide temperature range. Lobophora

Diverse "live bottom" community on a Carolina reef.

Green, red and brown algae vary seasonally and differ in role as fish food.

Stromatolites are club-shaped structures formed by a slow buildup of microbial mats trapping ooid sands. These form in high energy channels where migrating sand dunes and chemical precipitation of carbonate cement are dominant seafloor processes.

Stromatolites off NURP's research center on Lee Stocking Island.

Sub taking samples on a deep sea basalt bed off Hawaii.

Any kind of structure on the deep sea floor attracts local mobile species.

Offshore red algae communities serve as egg beds for New England herring.

Golden crab attempts to free a buddy from a crab trap. Geryon

Experimental reefs, or casitas, help determine what factors make the best reefs.

Hake lie near the base of a lost "ghost" lobster trap. Urophycis

Once popular tire reefs may break apart and wash up on beaches.

Artificial reefs can increase productivity of sandy bottoms.

Tagged Graysby grouper inside reef block.

Clam shell bed around a thermal mound in 2800 meters.

Black smoker chimney on Endeavour Ridge spouts super-heated water and chemicals.

Edge of a brine pool, a super salty pond, populated by mussels at 800 meters. Bathymodiolus

Tube worms living at a Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbon seep are 2 meters long. Lamellibranchia

Tube worms at a Pacific hydrothermal vent are related to hydrocarbon seep worms. Riftia pachyptila

Black smoker at a mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal vent.

Hydrothermal vent tubeworms get energy from bacteria that live in their plumes.

Sub samples show temperatures in hydrothermal vents exceed 300 degrees celsius.

Mussels, worms and a spider crab at a hydrocarbon seep community.

Minerals venting from the seafloor, provide chemosynthetic sustenance for bacteria, some of Earth's earliest life,

Spider crabs around vent sites on the Juan de Fuca Ridge.

Tube worms feeding at base of a black smoker chimney hydrothermal vent.

Black smoker chimney and shrimp on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Wire corals and snappers on the slope off Hawaii.

Sea urchin grazing deep hard bottom off Hawaii.

Sea cucumber grazing deep hard bottom off Hawaii.

Basket star curled on deep hard bottom off Hawaii.

Sub manipulator prepares to collect coral specimen on the deep slope off Hawaii.

Although there is little light, deep (>500 ft) reefs off Hawaii are productive.

Yellow gorgonian on deep reef off Hawaii.

Attached species compete for space on deep reef off Hawaii.

Sub grabs a wire coral on limestone bottom off Hawaii. Cirrhipathes

Reef fish, including rosy snappers, occupy a deep limestone reef.

Sea cucumber is colored to look like its rocky habitat.