This “golden tree” coral was too strange for any known family

A brilliant yellow coral discovered off Costa Rica proved so unusual that scientists had to create an entirely new family to classify it. The meter-tall colonies rise from seafloors covered in brittle stars, inspiring the Tolkien-inspired name Laurinque elenya, or “golden tree of the stars.” Advanced genetic analysis revealed that the coral belongs to a previously unknown evolutionary lineage. This “golden tree” coral was too strange for any known family.

In Las Gemelas II, taken during the 2023 expedition. Its genetic makeup and physical features were so distinctive that researchers created an entirely new family to classify it. The bright yellow coral, which has a branching, tree-like appearance, was discovered between 360 and 529 meters below the Pacific Ocean’s surface.

The findings are reported in the open-access journal ZooKeys. Researchers collected specimens using the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian during expeditions in 2019 and 2023 aboard the research vessels Falkor and Falkor ( too), which are operated by the Schmidt Ocean Institute. The expeditions explored seamounts near Isla del Coco and along Costa Rica’s Pacific margin.