CORALLIMORPH

These invertebrates belong to the same group as anemones and corals. They have tentacles and stinging cells, called nematocysts, for snagging small prey. Unlike more familiar reef-building corals, corallimorphs don’t secrete a calcium carbonate skeleton and they don’t form colonies. Countless other spineless creatures were brought up in the expedition’s sampling nets, and preserved specimens will be sent around the globe for experts to fully identify. But it’s still too soon to say how many species are new to science. “In terms of invertebrates, that’s a fair way down the track,” explains Bray.