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![Looking like the top of a Christmas tree star, this large long-spined urchin has climbed this dead appearing black coral bush expn3675.jpg Looking like the top of a Christmas tree star, this large long-spined urchin has climbed this dead appearing black coral bush](/sites/default/files/styles/max_1300x1300/https/s3.amazonaws.com/s3-east-testmedia-noaa.woc.noaa.gov/dam/Photos/legacy/pl23_expn3675.jpg?itok=oIYVCjZb)
Description
Looking like the top of a Christmas tree star, this large long-spined urchin has climbed this dead appearing black coral bush. Has itgained some survival advantage by being high off the seafloor? Is it consumingthe small life-forms colonizing the dead coral? (Image credit: NOAA OKEANOS EXPLORER Program, Oceano Profundo 2015; Exploring Puerto Rico's Seamounts, Trenches, and Troughs)