USCB professor honored with newly identified coral species
A newly identified species of deep-sea black coral has been named in honor of University of South Carolina Beaufort professor Dr. Mercer R. Brugler, recognizing his contributions to black coral research and marine biology.
The species, Leiopathes brugleri, was described by scientists from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History and international collaborators. The discovery was published June 15 in the journal Coral Reefs.
Brugler, chair of USCB’s Department of Natural Sciences and professor of marine biology, said he learned the news while attending a professional development program in Glacier National Park in Montana.
“I was thrilled, flabbergasted,” Brugler said. “It was really cool.”
He said the recognition carried both personal and professional meaning.
“Usually you get this when you’re dead, and so you never know about it,” he said. “It was nice to have been recognized when I was alive.”
The coral was found in deep waters on continental slope and mound habitats from the Gulf of Mexico between Louisiana and Florida and in the Azores, Portuguese islands in the North Atlantic, at depths ranging from 244 to 488 meters
Though called black coral because of its black skeleton, the animal’s living tissue can vary in color. Brugler said this species is typically white, though it can also appear red or orange.
The coral forms bush-like colonies that resemble plants, but Brugler said black corals are animals made up of thousands of feeding polyps.
“Instead of one mouth, like you and I, it has thousands of individual mouths that we call polyps,” he said.
Scientists noted the species belongs to a genus known for exceptional longevity. Related species have been aged at more than 4,000 years old.
Brugler said such lifespan raises major scientific questions.
“How do you live for 4,000 years and not get cancer or tumors?” he said. “That’s something we’re looking into right now.”
Brugler has spent more than two decades studying black corals. He said when he began his work in 2001, only one black coral had been genetically sequenced.
“I was the first one to do genetics on black corals and kind of paved the way,” he said.
Much about black corals remains unknown, particularly because most live in deep ocean environments under extreme pressure and cold temperatures.
At USCB, Brugler helped launch the undergraduate marine biology program in 2020. He said the program has grown rapidly and emphasizes hands-on fieldwork and research.
“We’ve only explored 5% of the world’s oceans,” Brugler said. “We’re just barely scratching the surface.”
