The pseudocolonial coral Lophelia pertusa (Scleractinia, Caryophylliidae) is a eury¬ba¬thic, steno¬ther¬mal cosmopolitan cold-water species. It occurs in two colour vari¬eties, white and red. L. pertusa builds vast cold-water coral reefs along the con¬tinental margins, which are among the most diverse deep-sea ecosystems. Micro¬biology of L. pertusa has been in scientific focus for only a few years. The question whether the coral holds a host-specific bac¬te¬rial commu¬nity is not finally answered. Possible implications of the two colour varieties for microbial colonisation must be taken into account. Bio imaging can reveal the in-situ location of bacterial groups on and possible interactions with the coral. The pre¬sent study aimed at investigating these aspects, drawing a more compre¬hen¬sive pic¬ture of commu¬nity struc¬ture, taxo¬no¬my, and in-situ location of L. pertusa-hosted microbes
